Clifford Health Club

Mark Clifford needed a £50k top-up to complete the ambitious growth plans at his profitable health club business.

Fast-growing-business owner Mark was introduced to us through his broker, Steve Harris, at Central Finance. Steve and Mark had worked together for 5 years and in that time Clifford Health Club had gone from strength to strength, growing from 6,000 to 10,000 members by the start of 2016. So far, growth had been driven by continuous investment in facilities and a dedicated social media effort driving engagement and subscriptions.

Mark needed funding to help take his business to the next level. He had already successfully added an extension to introduce a spa to the gym in 2014/15 and now had ambitious plans to turn an adjacent car park in to an Olympic sized swimming pool and treatment rooms with saunas.

This next growth phase was already underway when Mark was introduced to Nucleus. He needed £50k to complete the internal build of his venture, the new £2m extension when an unexpected drainage cost was threatening to halt the project. Mark was managing the work himself and with 40 workmen on site every day, finance was on his list of priorities but he had a very long list and it was frustrating to just fall short of completing the project. Nucleus offered him the full amount, £50k, which was approved one day and funded the next.

After looking around the market, Steve and Mark chose Nucleus for two main reasons: the term length of three years and also the flexibility in the amount. Mark received all the money on day one, unlike with some other lenders who drip feed the amount. He also was conscious he did not want to take out any ‘fast cash’ loans – this was always a long term investment. By the time the build was completed Mark’s membership numbers had already grown to 13,000 and the business is continuing to thrive.