Fencor Packaging Group

The Challenge

In 2016, Group Managing Director, David Orr, was looking to refinance their existing Invoice Discounting facility. The business required additional / increased facilities to help improve their liquidity and sought support from a funder that would back their growth ambitions.

Fencor has since experienced some significant growth, but, at the onset of the pandemic, the Group set out to ensure that they had adequate funding in place to allow the business to withstand the possibility of a considerable loss of revenue. This was then followed by an unexpected uplift in demand which required the company to make additional investments in plant and machinery.

The Solution

Having looked at several options in 2016, Fencor chose ABN AMRO Commercial Finance to deliver a comprehensive funding solution at a competitive rate, comprising an Invoice Discounting facility and plant, machinery and cashflow loans. This initial support package increased headroom and provided Fencor with the liquidity it needed to grow.

When Covid-19 hit, in 2020 the Group had planned for a scenario involving significant business interruption. Fencor worked with ABN AMRO to agree terms for a Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan (CBILS). With Fencor supplying packaging into medical and food supply chains, employees were categorised as essential workers. The terms approved on the CBILS facility enabled Fencor’s management team to reassure staff that their jobs were safe and encouraged everyone to stick together to deliver for their customers in extremely difficult circumstances.

The pandemic however, led to an unprecedented uplift in demand for e-commerce packaging and Fencor ultimately did not need to take up the CBILS. The business experienced a substantial increase in sales and a requirement for additional capacity to ensure that they could continue to meet customer demand. The team at ABN AMRO Lease were engaged to provide additional asset funding for the purchase of a range of machinery, including a new waste baler, die-cutter, multipoint gluer and two strapping machines.

The Result

With the support of a dedicated workforce and a tailored £6m asset based funding solution, Fencor has been able to significantly grow their business and keep pace with their customers’ demands.

David stressed, “The support of ABN AMRO has been critical to Fencor during the pandemic. Initially, the CBILS facility gave us the confidence to be able to reassure our staff in times of great uncertainty and this meant that we were there for our customers when they needed us. In a very similar way, ABN AMRO stepped up when we needed them. They then followed this up by supporting our investment requirements so that we could keep pace with our customers’ requirements.”

Having achieved rapid growth over the last few years, the business is focusing its attention on further improving its operations and enhancing efficiencies in order to continue providing its customers with an excellent service and fit for purpose packaging.  

Fencor will also be looking at improving the sustainability of their business, aiming to become carbon net zero by 2030. With more companies making the shift to more sustainable ways of working, this is big focus for the Group. Their product is inherently very sustainable: 100% is recyclable and around 85% is made from recycled materials. They have also implemented renewable sources of energy and are a partner and shareholder of CorrBoard UK - the world’s first supplier of corrugated sheet to be powered by an on-site Anaerobic Digester.