Company

R&J Uppal Holdings boasts an extensive property portfolio, comprising commercial and residential properties across Prestwick in Scotland. One of its flagship venues is the popular Taj Bar and Kitchen restaurant.

Funding Requirement

Perry Uppal, entrepreneur and Director of R&J Uppal Holdings, secured a £1.14m funding deal with Reward to transform the upstairs of the Taj Bar and Kitchen into a 10-bedroom luxury boutique hotel.

Finance Solution

Perry identified an increased local demand for high-quality accommodation driven by golf tourism – a market worth £40m each year to the Ayrshire economy, with many championship-standard courses such as Trump Turnberry, Royal Troon and Dundonald Links.

The Taj Bar and Kitchen already benefitted from the tourism market, but Perry sought to unlock further business growth opportunities by transforming the 3,875 sq. ft. space above the restaurant into the DeiRa Hotel & Apartments, a four-star boutique hotel.

Perry had previously struggled to access funding from banks and other traditional lenders and required finance quickly to ensure construction deadlines for the development of the DeiRa Hotel were met and to minimise disruption to the restaurant.

Perry was subsequently introduced to Reward by Robert Perrie from TWO Business Finance in order to secure a flexible and fast-paced funding solution to complete the building work in time to capitalise on the remainder of the golf tourism season.

Commenting on the deal, Lucie Martin, Business Development Director for Reward Funding in Scotland, said: “We are seeing a significant increase in Scottish property investors and businesses approaching us because they have been unsuccessful in securing finance from traditional funders. Our purpose is to fill the void left by banks and offer an alternative solution which unlocks business growth opportunities for companies across a range of sectors. This also plays a wider role in ensuring the Scottish economy doesn’t stand still or even retract due to a shortage of finance.

“It’s been a pleasure working with Perry to provide the funding as a catalyst for future business growth as we look forward to supporting them every step of the way.”

Client Testimonial

“We recognised that expanding our existing restaurant business – by creating a new luxury boutique hotel – would enable us to drive further business growth and capitalise on the lucrative golf tourism industry across the Ayrshire coast.”

“We’d struggled to secure funding through banks, which meant seizing this market opportunity would only be made possible if we could move quickly and find an alternative lender that understand our vision for the business and could deliver a tailored solution. The team at Reward have gone above and beyond to provide working capital at a pace needed to meet construction deadlines, minimise disruption to our restaurant business and open before the end of the golf tourism season.”

Perry Uppal, Director of R&J Uppal Holdings