West Sussex-based home furnishing retailer Swyft Home has secured a GBP1 million invoice discounting facility from the alternative funder Growth Lending to support the company’s strong direct-to-consumer sales strategy and drive its business-to-business sales.
Founded in 2019, Swyft Home provides sofa-in-a-box deliveries direct to customers within 48 hours of orders being placed. The range comprises four customisable sofa models, which are assembled using no tools in just five minutes, making the product an ideal option for city living, rental properties and show homes.
This summer, the retailer gained a large listing with John Lewis, as well as other significant online retailers. It has also won the respect of many customers, recording an 82 per cent “excellent” rating on the customer review site Trustpilot.
Growth Lending recognised that Swyft Home had established itself as a strong brand in just two years of trading and chose to work with the company because of its impressive rate of growth in direct-to-consumer sales, which are up 600 per cent year-on-year. Growth Lending’s investment will help Swyft Home to expand its business-to-business offering.
Growth Lending is a leading provider of fast, flexible and tailored funding for high-calibre B2B firms. The team – based in London, Manchester and Bristol – has decades of experience with institutional lenders, alternative finance and invoice discounting, giving it the confidence to lend quickly. The firm provided more than GBP80 million of funding in 2020, including GBP64 million under the government’s CBILS initiative, and aims to be a GBP200 million business by the end of 2021.
Julian Hornby, principal at Growth Lending, says: “Swyft Home has demonstrated impressive growth in the past few years, riding the difficult wave of the coronavirus pandemic with skill thanks to its exceptional direct-to-consumer sales.
“The retail channels within the business are fast becoming established and we are excited about helping the company to grow in the years to come.”
Keiran Hewkin, co-founder of Swyft Home, says: “On the back of our exponential direct-to-consumer expansion, we have teamed up with Growth Lending to help drive growth within the traditional retail space.
“This partnership will enable us to focus on continuing to disrupt the home space and reach ever more customers.”
