A Leicester clothing company has received funding from
EnterpriseLoans East Midlands to help launch its dance clothing
brands to a wider audience.
Pete Wildrianne and Lynn Lawson, who run the young,
urban-clothing business, Wild and Lawless, received funding from
EnterpriseLoans East Midlands, which has helped them to create an
online store and launch their new brands LAW and DanceLaw at a
dance trade exhibition in London.
Established by East Midlands Development Agency (emda) and
managed by the First Enterprise Business Agency (FEBA),
EnterpriseLoans East Midlands provides businesses and entrepreneurs
with loans of between £3,000 and £20,000.
"We are delighted that EnterpriseLoans East Midlands is helping
us with our ambitions," explains Lynn. "I have more than 30
years' experience designing and developing high street clothing and
Pete has worked in textile and retail sales. We identified a market
for fresh and funky clothes that would fit in with the growing
popularity of street wear and its related events.
"We prepared a business plan and cash flow forecast, which,
along with our market research, were crucial elements of our loan
application.
"Setting up a website means we can sell our clothes online which
is essential to appeal to our target market. The loan fund also
gave us an opportunity to exhibit alongside established dancewear
brands at the Move It 2009 event in London.
Talking to our target audience there gave us some invaluable
ideas to help us make our brands relevant to them. We also
received a great deal of retail interest from dancewear
independents in the UK and abroad."
Speaking about the scheme, John O'Reilly, emda's Business
Support Director said: "Securing finance to support or start your
business through its formative months or years has often been the
biggest challenge for budding entrepreneurs like Pete and Lynn,
particularly during the current economic downturn.
"We want more people in Leicestershire with dedication and
strong business propositions, to be given an opportunity to realise
their ambitions. EnterpriseLoans East Midlands is a sustainable
source of funding which addresses the difficulties of accessing
finance and I am sure that there are many other budding
entrepreneurs in the county who could benefit from this fund."
Quamar Zaman, Chief Executive of FEBA, which administers the
EnterpriseLoans East Midlands fund said: "During its first year,
EnterpriseLoans East Midlands has already loaned £500,000 to
a wide range of start up and existing businesses around the East
Midlands. We still want to be helping people in nine years'
time, so for that reason we need to invest in businesse s that have
solid foundations and excellent people behind them.
Existing entrepreneurs or individuals who are thinking of
starting up in business should contact Business Link on 0845 058
6644. http://www.businesslink.gov.uk
For more details about EnterpriseLoans East Midlands, telephone
0845 602 7355.