The financial package from Lloyds Bank will help Golden Bear fund product development and consumer research to bring new products to market.
Image copyright: Tim Sturgess, Shropshire Star
£750,000 of working capital funding facilities from Lloyds Bank will help support Golden Bear, which operates globally in over 55 countries worldwide with a supply chain sourced mainly from the Far East and an expanding portfolio.
The company approached Lloyds Bank for support with its investment plans and working capital needs to help maximise its sales opportunities. Although its successful children’s licensed products remain a core priority for the business, as part of a strategic initiative to grow the business, both in the UK and across the world, Golden Bear has recently diversified into developing its own intellectual property (IP). The financial package from Lloyds Bank will help the business fund investment in product development and consumer research required to bring its new products to market.
Golden Bear says it hopes the investment will help it drive 10% growth next year, and support more ambitious plans for the future.
Lloyds Bank will also support Golden Bear Products with foreign currency transactions, helping the business to mitigate the commercial risk of trading in foreign currency. This will support the business in its international expansion plans, where it hopes it could see exponential growth of 20-30% for its own IP products.
MD Barry Hughes commented: “The nature of our products mean we can see huge spikes in demand, making it crucial that we have the financial headroom to respond to these trends. For example, our new Soccer Bot was featured in a viral TikTok video, which got over 4.3m views on the platform and saw it rank No. 1 on both Amazon and Argos. Likewise, we’ve partnered with YouTubers The Sidemen and Hot House games as UK distributors for new adult game, Hit Send, driving high demand for Christmas.”
Image copyright: Tim Sturgess, Shropshire Star
“We’ve worked with Lloyds Bank since 2011, when we were chosen to produce the plush mascot for the London 2012 Summer Olympics. It supported us through this period of sudden high demand, and has been by our side since, helping us both day-to-day and during seasonal peaks. We have a strong relationship with the team and are confident they understand our products and market.”
Charlotte Turton, relationship director at Lloyds Bank, added: “Golden Bear Products is developing an exciting portfolio which can be dramatically impacted by social media trends over the season, meaning the business needs to have the right funding facilities in place to manage this. The business has also seen its retailers become more cautious amidst a challenging economic climate, switching from buying in bulk from overseas to ordering smaller quantities more often from the UK. To fulfil these orders, we’ve helped Golden Bear Products become more agile in its cashflow management, which will set it in good stead to drive growth into the future.”
