• e-mail

For many of Britain's small and medium-sized businesses, Government-backed loans taken out during the pandemic have proved a financial lifeline. But like any loan, they now have to be paid back and some companies are having to make repayments even though lockdown restrictions have yet to be fully lifted and trading is not back to normal. 

Last week, The Mail on Sunday spoke to the owners of three small businesses who obtained loans to see them through the pandemic. As we report, some fared better than others. 

THE WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER 

Amber Leach launched her wedding photography business, Liberty Pearl, in Plymouth eight years ago. Until the pandemic struck, things were going well – annual turnover was running into six figures and she employed six photographers doing everything from taking pictures of the big day itself to honeymoons, elopements and even overseas weddings.

Mixed picture: Amber Leach's (right) photography firm is booming, while Loc Bui shut his restaurant and set up online cookery classes

But when Covid hit, Amber lost 80 per cent of her business overnight and had to refund £18,000 to would-be brides and grooms who had already booked with her. 

'I was in a pickle,' she says, with some understatement. While she was able to get a one-off grant from her local council and keep some money coming in by running online business strategy courses, she had no choice but to take out a £10,000 Bounce Back Loan and then a further £7,000 advance. 

The terms of the loans meant she did not have to make any repayments for a year. 'The money they provided me with was there as a financial back-up as I didn't know how many other clients I'd have to refund,' says Amber. 

But now that most wedding restrictions have been lifted, her business is booming – she's got 18 months' work to cram into the next four months. 

Thankfully, Amber is in a strong position to start repaying her loans. She says: 'I'm confident about paying the loans off, but who knows what's going to happen in the future?' 

THE SPECIALIST SHOE RETAILER 

Katie Owen launched her wide-shoe retailer Sargasso and Grey seven years ago while working fulltime in the wealth management industry. But in 2018, she decided to take the plunge and run her business full-time. 

'I could never find stylish enough wide shoes for myself, so I thought I'd start designing and selling them myself,' she says. She focused on wide shoes for smart occasions such as weddings. 

It meant sales collapsed when weddings and other big events were cancelled in April 2020. Indeed, Katie ended up organising more returns than sales. Taking out a £25,000 Bounce Back Loan was 'brilliant, a real life-saver', she says, and was 'a way to get a cheap financial buffer as I just didn't know how long the dire situation was going to last for'. 

The extra cash was put to good use when Sargasso and Grey expanded its product line into wide-fitting trainers and flat shoes. As a silver lining, Katie, from Ealing, West London, is now seeing her customer base grow as people who wouldn't usually have bought online are now far more comfortable doing so. 'I've taken advantage of the loan repayment holiday as I wasn't sure how things were looking when I started receiving notices about repaying the loan,' she says. 'It was a scary time and I wondered if the business was going to survive, but I'm far more confident now. From adversity comes hope.'

THE RESTAURANT OWNER 

Paula Cooper and her partner Loc Bui had run their popular Vietnamese restaurant in Ilkley, West Yorkshire, for 16 years until Covid finally did for them. 

Paula says: 'We struggled throughout the lockdowns as we were having to close all the time. Even when we were able to open, we were only just breaking even. All the time we had our fixed costs to pay.' 

In spite of Government grants and a £50,000 Bounce Back Loan, the couple made the difficult decision to close for good in January this year. 'It was a really hard decision to make, but it was the right one,' says Paula. 'Businesses like ours took out loans thinking we would be able to start trading normally again soon, but it just wasn't poss­ible for us.' 

Now, the couple have launched online cookery school Loc's Taste of Vietnam, which is already attracting favourable reviews from fans of Vietnamese cuisine. 

But they are still having to meet the £900 monthly repayments on their Bounce Back Loan – as well as preparing to pay a £35,000 tax bill. 'I know we can delay repaying the loan,' says Paula, 'but we just want to clear it as soon as we can, move on and concentrate on making a success of our new business.'