Member Article

Sheffield beauty entrepreneur expands collagen drink venture

Sheffield-based entrepreneur Kathryn Danzey is expanding her collagen drink and beauty business with support from Finance for Enterprise.

Kathryn and her husband Robert set up Rejuvenated in 2003 to create products for the beauty industry.

Their Collagen Shots, an anti-ageing collagen drink was named as the ‘hottest beauty product for 2014’ in The Times.

However, its products take a huge amount of time and investment to go through the development process.

Kathryn said: “We need leading experts to prove the benefits of our products so we work with the very best - including specialists who develop nutritional products for Olympic athletes.”

“That development time requires a substantial outlay of cash which we know we won’t see a return on until the product reaches market. It can be seen as a high-risk investment for some traditional banks who don’t understand our industry.

“But the Finance For Enterprise team were superb. They really did their homework and gave us the funds we needed to step up our product development.

“It also helped us to buy more raw materials in bulk and make important economies of scale. The business is going from strength to strength.”

Arthur Foreman, managing director of Finance For Enterprise said: “We’re extremely proud of our track record in supporting businesses over the last 25 years and have ambitious plans to increase the volume of that support over the coming months and years.

“We’re determined to ensure that viable businesses get all the support they deserve. It was no exception here. Rejuvenated is a real South Yorkshire success story and we’re proud to have helped them overcome some of the hurdles in their way.”

Finance For Enterprise has loaned £8 million to 600 businesses since 2008 and supported 50 businesses with a total investment of £1.1 million in the first quarter of 2014. The organisation’s median loan value is £27,000 over a typical 36 month term.

Finance For Enterprise is a not for profit company limited by guarantee.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .