Nick Verstage of 1st Business Finance shares on the joy of helping businesses survive and thrive

Nick Verstage of 1st Business Finance is passionate about helping companies to grow, something he has been doing for over 30 years. Successfully working with businesses of all sizes, from startups to major corporations and both here and further afield.

Many businesspeople think High Street banks are their only option for commercial finance and find they are turned down straight away. However, 1st Business Finance has access to many different lenders and can find the right deal for you. Devon Business chatted with Nick, the seasoned leader of the Cullompton-based company who is confident that if you need business funds to move forward, he can get them for you – provided your deal makes business sense!

Devon Business: Tell us about some of the business you’ve worked with in three decades?

Nick Verstage: We’ve financed most of the pubs in the Southwest. We’ve also funded many care homes and generally done a huge amount of diverse business in this region. We do a lot of development finance and all types of property finance. We also handle cashflow loans for companies that need an urgent injection. Plus, we arrange quick, unsecured business finance based on recent credit card machine usage.

A lot of what we do is property related, including refurbishment and buy-to-let finance. But If someone comes to me wanting to raise finance for something totally different we can help them if the deal makes sense. We have strong relationships with a wide range of lenders and can help our clients find the right finance solutions for them.

Devon Business: So what are the services you offer specifically?

Nick Verstage:  We provide commercial loans, development finance, short term finance, investment finance, buy-to-let finance and cashflow finance – especially related to property. Plus we can do deals that are out of the ordinary including precious stones, motor and aviation financing.

We help clients nationally and internationally but I prefer to do local business where I can actually go out and meet people and really understand what they’re all about.

Devon Business: How do people find you?

Nick Verstage: People either get introduced to me, find us on social media or ring me up out of the blue. They come to me and ask: “Can I help them?” And I give an honest answer. We also get a lot of repeat business from clients. Basically, if they are doing developments and things like that, they just come back to us. It works very well. I enjoy meeting people and helping people.

Many people don’t know where to go for finance. Sometimes they’ll go to a clearing bank on the High Street which is all they know about when it comes to commercial finance. And they get turned down straight away because they don’t have a business plan; there’s no relevant information. Then they get introduced to us and we put together details to the right type of lender for their need and the deal goes forward.

Devon Business: That’s brilliant! Can you share an example of that?

Nick Verstage: Yes, we financed a care home that initially failed to get funding. However, when it came to me from a mortgage broker, I reworked the application and resubmitted it.

It was was approved, ‘no questions asked’. The banker did ask me though: “Have I seen this bill before?”

I said: ”Not in this format. That’s why you’ve agreed to do it. I believe it came to you in another format and you didn’t like it.”

It worked second time round because we understood what the lender wanted and how to put it across to him. That’s what we do.

Devon Business: Amazing, so, tell us more about your process. What happens when a client comes to you for help?

Nick Verstage: When we talk to people, we need information. We’ll send them three forms, which, literally, they can then fill out on their phone.

  • One of them is an application form that gives all the details of what they’re looking for;
  • The second is a customer consent form, which allows us to talk to lenders about them; and
  • We have a terms-of-business form that explains how we work, how we get paid, etc.

So, on day one, those forms come back to us and we can then talk to the lenders. We follow this up by issuing indicative terms, which explain exactly what we can do and detail any additional information we require. That goes to the client and we get the information back. Then it goes to the lender, who, hopefully says ‘yes’ and the client gets an offer. We hold the client’s hand until the deal is complete.

Devon Business: Do you see Devon as being a good place to live and do business?

Nick Verstage: We’ve had problems as a country since Covid. A lot of businesses are still hanging with debt from Lockdown. But we live in an area where people like to holiday, have investment properties down here etc. That’s why we have done a lot of pubs – everybody wants a pub in Devon and Cornwall because they like living here. It’s a lovely area to do business!

The thing that affects it, is what happens in London regarding interest rates and policies and things like that. But as long as interest rates remain stable, people will do things, no matter how high the interest rates go up, or how low they go. People will always want finance. And that’s what I do and I’m going to keep on doing it because I think it’s fun to help people and go home feeling good!

Call Nick Verstage at 01884 308 222 or Mobile: 07773 228 331 or email him at info@1stbusinessfinance.co.uk   Website: www.1stbusinessfinance.co.uk Follow him on Facebook and LinkedIn

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