Member Article

Family commercial print company Charisma Design & Print secures £60,000 MEIF investment

Thirteen jobs have been safeguarded after a family commercial printing company secured £60,000 in funding to build future growth.

Charisma Design & Print Ltd, based in Colebrook Road, Tyseley, received funding from the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF), Small Business Loans fund to assist with working capital and cashflow following a successful application managed by BCRS Business Loans.

Founded by Director Ray Gilliland in 1991, Charisma Design & Print predominantly supplies printed collateral to the hotel sector ranging from branded key cards to admin stationery and conference signage.

The company, which employs 13 people, works with leading international hotel and hospitality brands with Ray’s son Andrew Gilliland appointed as director while his daughter Joanne manages the sales and marketing.

With impact of Covid-19 pandemic and the temporary closure of the hospitality and hotel sectors, Charisma Design & Print will use the funding to continue to rebuild the company to pre-lockdown levels of revenue and profitability, protecting all the roles.

Ray Gilliland, Director at Charisma Design & Print, said: “After securing funding from BCRS and MEIF, Charisma Design & Print will continue our recovery having seen the Covid-19 pandemic effectively shut down the hotel sector which has made up much of our client base for many years.

“Having had to make redundancies and place staff on furlough, we have been rebuilding our business as travel and hospitality move back to normal levels. Our products are used by hotel guests throughout some of the largest international groups, from menus to back of house admin collateral. As an established family company, we can now look forward thanks to the funding support.

“Having seen the massive impact of a bad year upon our business BCRS worked with us throughout a thorough process and took the time to get to know our business. We appreciate the MEIF team supporting Charisma Design & Print as it has put us in a better position to go out and win new business at the same time as seeing our traditional hotel client base gradually return.”

Louise Armstrong, Senior Business Development Manager at BCRS Business Loans, said: “We were delighted to be able to provide the funding which the Charisma Design & Print team needed to re-establish their business after seeing events out of their control impact their all-important hotel customer base during the pandemic.

“BCRS Business Loans are committed to making a positive economic impact so we are pleased all 13 roles will be protected as the business rebuilds.

“Having looked at what Charisma Design & Print had achieved pre-Covid, we could see the potential to support them to get back to those levels. They have been through a testing time so we were pleased to help such an established family business.”

Mark Wilcockson, Senior Investment Manager at the British Business Bank, said: “As Midlands business move beyond the post-pandemic recovery stage into the next steps of growth, regional funding from the MEIF continues to play a key role in enabling these next steps. Companies such as Charisma Print and Design are returning to pre-pandemic levels, with many more regional businesses no doubt to follow.”

The Midlands Engine Investment Fund project is supported financially by the European Union using funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020 and the European Investment Bank.

Business loans from £25,000 to £150,000 are available via the MEIF Small Business Loan Fund, which is delivered to businesses located in the West Midlands region by BCRS Business Loans.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Chris Leggett .