HSBC financing helps highland seafood firm reel in London business

Coast and Glen’s success was facilitated by a £27,000 working capital overdraft from HSBC which enabled founder, Magnus Houston, to establish a foothold in the lucrative London market over the past two years with customers which now include Michelin starred Gordon Ramsay and Wright Brothers’ restaurants.

Before working with HSBC, Coast and Glen was limited to revenue streams determined by credit agreements making expansion outside of the Highlands and Islands nearly impossible.

The HSBC overdraft also supported Coast and Glen’s desire to meet the growing demand for high-quality freshly caught fish through a subscription service delivering directly to consumers by post. Spikes in sales required Coast and Glen to purchase packaging materials to fulfil last minute demand but the flexibility of the HSBC overdraft allowed for this and helped secure a rapidly growing customer base. Sales grew by 55 per cent in the last year, with an average of four new subscribers per day.

Mr Houston, a recent winner of the Institute of Directors Emerging Director Award, purchased a small boat in 2011 after a chance fishing trip and started Coast and Glen as a wholesaler of locally and sustainably sourced seafood from the Highlands.

The business now supplies over 200 hotels and restaurants in Scotland and London.

Mr Houston said: “Before partnering with HSBC, we would never have been able to supply outside of the Highlands and Islands in the same timeframe. Now, thanks to the flexibility of finance we provide quality fish to the likes of Gordon Ramsay as well as our subscribed customers. HSBC understood our long-term goals of supplying down south but also that we might need to bulk buy stock at a moment’s notice, and they provided us the finance to do both.”

The finance from HSBC was allocated from the bank’s national £10 billion SME fund to actively support UK SMEs.

£450 million is specifically designated to support Scottish firms and rebalance the economy outside of London, the lender said.

Susan Rowand, head of business banking at HSCB in Scotland, said: “Coast and Glen wanted to expand quickly but couldn’t rely solely on revenue streams determined by credit agreements to do this. The business demonstrated true entrepreneurialism in identifying and capitalising on individual consumer demand for fresh fish and seafood. We were more than happy to support this development of their business including their evolving financial needs.”