Feel Good Inc

 In Business Loans

Rhys Jordan started his business in 2014 shortly after being made redundant as a Social Worker.  A keen fitness enthusiast, Rhys was coaching people for Triathlon Wales, but was frustrated with having to meet people in various coffee shops around Pembrokeshire and not having a proper base to run his business from.  Rhys decided at this point that he’d like to open his own café, with the emphasis being on a healthy menu and fitness. The venue was an old video rental shop.

Within 18 months, Feel Good Inc had gone from strength to strength and the business had outgrown its current premises – with people queuing out of the door and down the street on busy days.  The only problem for the business concerned the temperamental Welsh weather, with the shop being empty when the weather wasn’t so great.  Rhys wanted to find a new, bigger building to house his thriving coffee shop business, but also somewhere that wouldn’t see a decline in business when the wet and windy weather set in.

feelgoodinc2At roughly the same time, a leisure centre had opened eight miles away in Tenby. The local council put out a tender to find the right person to take on the café facilities. Rather than looking for a chain store, they wanted a local supplier that would fit in more with their own ethos around community and qualify refreshments.  Rhys put in an application and it was accepted by the centre, in part, due to the success of his existing store and his fresh take on what a leisure centre coffee shop should be offering.

Rhys needed a boost of capital to move his business into the leisure centre though.  He approached a number of banks, all of which were unwilling to lend due to the age and size of the business, that’s when he approached us.  We loved the idea behind the business, and needed to move quickly so that Rhys could secure the lease with the Council. Rhys was assisted by his wonderful accountant Andrea, who came up with numbers and paperwork necessary for the loan application, at lightening speed. The loan was then issued in time to secure the lease, Funding was used to buy new equipment for the kitchen, furniture and signage. If you are in Tenby, we highly recommend that you drop in at the leisure centre for a really good coffee and a healthy (or not so healthy) snack.

“Working with Jackie has been great” said Rhys, “I can pick up the phone and give her a call for some advice if I need it – I don’t have to go through loads of options on a machine before I can have a chat.”

You can see all of the hard work that Rhys has put into Feel Good Inc on their Facebook page.  If you’ve got a business idea of your own that you’d like to get off the ground, take a look at our Start Up Loans page today.

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