Shropshire Star

Telford IT distributor agrees £5m growth package

A technology distributor in Telford has secured a new £5 million financing package to allow it to deliver on its growth plans.

Published

GNR Tech has secured the facility from SME-focused business bank Aldermore, including a £4 million invoice discounting facility and £1 million inventory facility.

The company was launched in May this year after buying up various assets from defunct IT distributor Entatech.

The IT specialist, based in Telford's Stafford Park, was placed into administration with accountants KPMG in May, with the immediate loss of 50 jobs.

The business and its assets were then sold to C&W Distributors Limited, which trades as GNR Technology, and which was a new company led by members of Entatech’s former management team.

GNR distributes technology hardware and software to the trade industry and has more than 1,000 active resellers and retailers among its client base.

Dave Stevinson, Managing Director at GNR Tech commented “This is a capital intensive business and the optimum capital structure is critical. By partnering with Aldermore and maintaining the right blend of debt and equity – we are ideally poised to execute on our vision.

“After conducting an extensive review of lenders our advisors felt Aldermore were the right choice based on their long term view, reasonable charges and the simplicity of the products.”

The management team, led by Mr Stevinson, has decades of experience in the technology sector and has ambitious plans for the new business.

The facility from Aldermore will allow the company to pursue their aims for growth by increasing their vendor breadth and investing in more inventory to meet demand.

Carl Finlayson, head of business development invoice finance at Aldermore, said: “These funding deals are all about relationships and from day one we were able to build a strong rapport with the team at GNR Tech.

"The management team has excellent industry contacts and a credible and well-articulated business plan. We are proud that Aldermore is able to support an exciting company with an impressive vision for the future.”

GNR represents 20 vendors in the UK including Intel, Gigabyte, iStorage, Hannspree and Hikvision.