Case Studies
Seven Investment Management
Summit has worked with Seven Investment Management to provide funding for business relocation, office fit out and the acquisition of new high technology assets.
Romad Limited
Romad Ltd is a market leading specialist solutions provider of mobile location based services (LBS) for lone worker protection and personal security. They manufacture the Romad Personal Safety Phone, a powerful cell ‘phone based GPS location tracking product that provides security and peace of mind for lone workers in both the Public and Private sector across Europe.
HM Government - outsourcing contract
Our customer, a major hardware manufacturer that specalises at delivering and implementing client served desktop systems, was granted a major sub-contractor remit by a well known IT outsourcing company.
Major finance house - desktop roll-out
A major, well known, finance house needed to replace the desktop computers in its back-office operations and upgrade the related network infrastructure, but budgets were proving difficult to obtain and the business was attracted to leasing.
Seven Investment Management
30/04/2009
The Client Seven Investment Management Limited (“7IM”) is an FSA regulated company that blends together investment experience, marketing skills, technology knowledge and client service expertise with the aim of delivering a platform that enables it to offer a fresh approach to personal investment planning and wealth management.
7IM focuses on asset allocation to grow its clients’ investment portfolios, using independent, institutional calibre managers to select stocks, bonds and funds within portfolios. It charges a fee rather than commissions, thus aligning the interests of both the client and 7IM – simply, to grow a client’s wealth.
The Challenge
The business was due to undertake a restructure with control of the business changing from Killik & Co, the London stockbroker to a combination of new institutional investors and the existing 7IM management team. A requirement of the restructure was a relocation to new premises, in Edinburgh and London.
Although this effectively presented an opportunity to design and deliver a sophisticated 21st Century business solution from a blank canvas, utilising the latest IT and telecommunications technologies, it created complex challenges for 7IM.
Although an established business, 7IM effectively faced the needs of a start-up. New offices had to be selected and fitted out, new furniture, telecommunications and IT suppliers needed to be sourced and appointed and funding for the relocation needed to be arranged. All whilst managing significant numbers of existing client relationships, and undertaking a change-of-ownership.
The Solution
To help manage its acquisition requirement and to spread the cost of establishing the business in its new locations, 7IM turned to Summit Asset Management (“SAM”), a specialist financier owned by The Summit Group.
SAM created a debt warehousing facility for 7IM, with SAM receiving invoices directly from 7IM’s suppliers and making stage payments as work to fit out and equip the new premises was completed, and equipment delivered. Interest was accrued as part of the facility, and then rolled into lease agreements that were drawn down as each part of a project was completed.
Payments under the lease contracts were fixed to allow easier budgeting for 7IM, and the lease terms were aligned to the anticipated useful life of individual assets. In addition SAM took residual investments in the assets being acquired, further reducing the cost of acquiring and using the telecommunications, furniture and IT that were being deployed.
Charles Sparrow, Chief Financial Officer at 7IM comments “Our business really benefited from the flexible and pragmatic approach adopted by Summit. This was a welcome contrast to the rigid requirements of other finance houses we have experienced”.
Benefits
The flexibility of SAM’s financing facilities means that 7IM have been able to spread the cost of IT investment, allowing maximum clarity with financial planning and budgeting.
The residual value investments have reduced the total cost of IT, telecommunications and furniture and mitigated 7IM’s end-of–life equipment recycling and disposal costs by moving those requirements to SAM.
Project administration was simplified as supplier invoices were collated and paid by SAM.
Future administration was reduced through the provision of a single quarterly rental from SAM covering all of the work carried out for, and equipment supplied under, each project.