When Fenwick Brothers first approached Ultimate Finance in 2016, it was during a challenging period for the business.
Operating across agriculture and haulage, the company faced the same pressures experienced by many growing businesses: inconsistent cashflow, limited support from most high street lenders and the ongoing challenge of funding growth.
Director Jonathan Fenwick explains, “High street banks have lost their personal contact and understanding of business. All they wanted was more cashflow forecasts and budgets, and they were very long-winded in giving answers, let alone support.”
At the time, Invoice Finance was not on Jonathan’s radar as a potential source of finance, largely because of the negative perceptions and misconceptions often associated with the product back then. In practice, Fenwick Brothers would go on to discover just how inaccurate those assumptions were.
“Our impression was that Invoice Finance was too challenging to be viable, but as we came to find out, that was far from the truth.”
Johnathan Fenwick | Director | Fenwick Brothers
Challenging perceptions
For Ultimate Finance, earning the trust of Fenwick Brothers was the first step.
To do so, the team worked closely with Jonathan to demonstrate how Invoice Finance could support a business operating in the agricultural sector while building the confidence needed to move forward.
” Our Relationship team at the time played a key part in helping Jonathan look beyond the misconceptions that can surround Invoice Finance and understand how the facility could work in practice for his business. Once those assumptions were tested against the reality of the support available, it became clear they were highly inaccurate.”
Jane Ruthven | Relationship Manager, Ultimate Finance
From the early conversations, however, Jonathan recognised something different.
“From the initial meeting I was pleased with what I was hearing,” he says. “Then [Head of Relationship Management] Emma Booth came along. What a breath of fresh air compared with bank managers.”
Creating the confidence to grow
Supported by their dedicated relationship team, the transition to Invoice Finance was smooth.
Jonathan explains, “It took a marvellous burden from us of continually being short of cash, which allowed us to concentrate on growing and finding new customers.”
This is where the real value of Invoice Finance began to emerge. Access to working capital became directly linked to sales activity, giving the company the confidence to pursue new opportunities.
Over the years, Ultimate Finance continued to support the business as its needs evolved.
“There has never been any problem extending the facility and bringing on new debtors,” Jonathan explains. “Emma and Jane have helped us brilliantly, finding short-term ways of providing a little extra now and then, something banks probably wouldn’t have accommodated.”
Johnathan Fenwick | Director | Fenwick Brothers
Fivefold growth over a decade
The results speak for themselves. Over the last ten years, Fenwick Brothers has achieved significant turnover growth, transforming itself into a larger, more established transport business and attracting a growing number of customers.
“Within the last ten years we have been able to grow turnover fivefold. Today, we are, with the help of Ultimate Finance, a more recognised and established transport company attracting many new good customers.”
While every business journey includes challenges, having access to flexible funding and a relationship-led service gave Fenwick Brothers the support it needed to navigate them.
A partnership built on trust
Today, Fenwick Brothers no longer requires external funding support.
“The progress Fenwick Brothers has made over the past decade shows what can be achieved when funding is aligned with the realities of a growing business. Seeing the company strengthen its position to the point where external funding was no longer required is a very positive outcome.”
Jane Ruthven | Relationship Manager, Ultimate Finance
Our goal has always been to help businesses strengthen their financial position, unlock growth opportunities and build long-term resilience. Sometimes that means clients remain with us for many years, even decades. Sometimes it means helping them reach a stage where they no longer need external funding at all.
What makes the Fenwick Brothers story especially rewarding is the strength of the relationship that developed over the past decade.
As the facility came to an end, Jonathan personally contacted members of the Ultimate Finance team to thank them for their support, describing joining Ultimate Finance as “the best thing he ever did”.
Reflecting on the past ten years, Jonathan’s conclusion is simple: “This would not have been possible without the great support from Ultimate Finance, and I will be eternally grateful.”
For us, there is no greater measure of success than helping a client achieve theirs.
