The £250k loan, facilitated by SWIG Finance, will be used for working capital to ensure business continuity until they can begin trading again and travel restrictions begin to be lifted.
Andrew Hunt, Managing Director and Harry Ring General Manager
Holiday Architects is a customer centric organization which creates bespoke, culturally immersive, luxury holiday packages to far-flung destinations.
They have dedicated team of knowledgeable operators that work with their customers to create tailor-made holiday packages to suit their customers’ needs.
Since establishing the business in 2010, Holiday Architects have won an accolade of awards, they won Best Tour Operator award from Wanderlust Reader Travel Awards twice, and have been placed in the Top 10 every year since 2015. They were also awarded Bronze in the Best Luxury Holiday Company category at the 2020 British Travel Awards.
Furthermore, the business is regularly nominated as Best Place to Work in Gloucestershire – they won the award in 2018 and came runner up in 2019.
With travel and tourism industry arguably taking the biggest hit during the ongoing pandemic, it has been a challenging period for Holiday Architects. To ensure their survival, they have been forced to restructure the business, however, the CBILS funding means that they were able to safeguard 11 jobs.
Despite the harsh market conditions, Holiday Architects remain positive about their future. Managing Director Andrew Hunt commented “There has been some huge changes within the industry in the last 12 months. Now that vaccines have been developed, we can start to see a light at the end of the tunnel”.
Of the funding, Andrew said “The CBILS funding has offered us a lifeline. We chose to work with SWIG Finance because, unlike other lenders, at SWIG you can talk to a person. Our Business Manager, Jordan, took the time to understand our business, its current market position and our future plans. Ultimately, SWIG Finance were able to support our business by looking at the bigger picture – something which other lenders are not willing to do.”
SWIG Finance’s business manager, Jordan Berg, led the deal. He said “Being an avid traveller myself, supporting this business was extra special. Holiday Architects are fantastic at what they do and up until Covid-19 had been growing rapidly and bringing quality jobs to the Gloucestershire region. I have no doubt their future is bright and look forward to seeing them grow as the industry begins to re-open.”
About SWIG Finance
SWIG Finance is a people-based lender that provides loans and support to help smaller businesses in the South and West Country grow. We base our lending decisions on potential rather than collateral, which means that we can often support businesses when others can't.
We’re growing every year. In 2024/25, we lent £14.8m to 501 businesses, helping to create and secure over 1,272 jobs and generate £75.7m in social impact. Download the report here.
If you’d like an informal chat about your funding requirements, get in touch with our friendly and professional team to see how we can help: info@swigfinance.co.uk / 01872 227 930