£186k for a 6-van last-mile fleet expansion

Northwave Logistics had spent eighteen months pitching a regional e-commerce retailer for last-mile delivery work across the North West. In late August they got the call: the contract was theirs, but routes had to be live within three weeks. That meant six new long-wheelbase Mercedes Sprinters, liveried, telematics-fitted and DVLA-registered.

Their incumbent bank quoted six weeks for credit and asked for a 30% deposit — roughly £56k of cash the directors had earmarked for driver recruitment, uniforms and the deposit on a second yard.

The vans were a stock order from a single dealer group, so the lender had to commit to the full £186k as one drawdown rather than staged invoices. The contract revenue, while strong on paper, hadn't started yet — so we were underwriting on forward order book rather than historic turnover.

On top of that, Northwave's last filed accounts showed a small loss after a one-off restructuring charge, which had spooked their bank's algorithm-led credit team.

We took the deal directly to a challenger lender we knew would underwrite on management accounts and signed contract evidence rather than just filed accounts. Hire purchase over 60 months, 10% deposit, fixed flat rate of 6.9%.

Critically, we negotiated a three-month VAT deferral on the upfront VAT bill — meaning the first invoice runs from the new contract effectively funded the VAT, rather than coming out of working capital.

Documents were drafted within 24 hours of credit approval, e-signed the same afternoon, and the dealer was paid the next morning.

All six Sprinters were delivered, liveried and on the road in 11 working days. Northwave hit their go-live date with a day to spare. The contract is now 28% of group revenue, and the same lender has since approved a follow-on facility for two refrigerated 3.5-tonners.