Hippowaste was founded in 2002 to provide an ethical and environmentally responsible alternative to the traditional skip.
Based on the principle of using flexible bags rather than rigid steel containers, and operating its own national fleet, Hippowaste has established itself as a firm favourite with builders, businesses and homeowners across the country.
The success of the Hampshire based company, which grew by 40% during 2012, created the need for additional working capital to enable the business to exploit further new business opportunities. Finance and Commercial Director Richard Scarrott explains:
“Hippowaste is an amazing British success story and we’ve been very fortunate in that all our funding needs have been satisfied by our shareholders. However, major new national contract wins in 2012 with two leading kitchen and DIY stores created the need for additional working capital.
“Hippowaste has a high quality debtor book that provides an ideal base for invoice discounting and we therefore decided to approach a number of banks to see what type of finance package they were able to offer.
“The financial institution we finally chose to work with was Aldermore, one of the UK’s newest banks, but one that quickly demonstrated why it has been able to build a strong reputation as the champion of British businesses. Their team showed an understanding of and commitment to our business from the very first meeting. They constructed a competitive finance package, which gives us access to up to £1.5 million of additional funding when we need it.
“The new finance facility is now in place and our dealings with Aldermore during the first few weeks of our working relationship have been very positive. The team at Aldermore are professional, knowledgeable and helpful and all the early signs indicate a mutually beneficial working relationship during the months ahead.”
The additional working capital will enable Hippowaste to build its base of both retail and business customers across the country. Approximately two-thirds of Hippowaste’s customers are businesses, who use the flexible Hippobags to dispose of a broad range of materials from building waste, to old kitchens and redundant heating systems. The remaining third are consumers, who typically use Hippobags for tasks such as DIY and disposing of garden waste. Hippowaste’s service not only includes the provision of the company’s distinctive yellow bags, but also the environmentally responsible disposal of all waste.
Richard Scarrott concluded: “Invoice discounting is a practical and flexible finance solution for any company that has a strong debtor base. Many companies tend to fall-back on either an overdraft or a loan facility, but invoice finance is a perfect solution for many businesses as it releases cash locked away in unpaid invoices and enables them to trade and grow whilst not having to wait for debtors to pay their bills.”
David Parsons, Aldermore’s Regional Director for the South West and Wales, added: “Hippowaste is a great example of an innovative British company that has identified a market need and is satisfying that need with great success. The company’s ability to keep on growing during a period of difficult economic conditions demonstrates the strength of its proposition and bodes well for the future.
“I would like to wish Richard and the team at Hippowaste every success. I have no doubt that, with the additional financial support provided by Aldermore, we’ll see far more of the ubiquitous yellow Hippobags in the future.”
