South West accountancy firm Purple Lime has secured a six-figure loan from the British Business Bank's South West Investment Fund to help accelerate its growth ambitions and increase its headcount.
The funding is helping Purple Lime to strengthen their team, unlock greater capacity and support future investment in the growth of the business. Three new jobs are being created including two new management accountants and a marketing manager.
Purple Lime is based in Brinkworth, North Wiltshire. Established in 2016 it employs 12 staff and serves around 200 clients of all sizes across the South West. The firm has been managed by Chris and Rachel Spratling since 2023 who have a focused strategy of business growth.
In addition to the standard services such as corporate finance, accounts, tax, financial management, VAT and payroll, Purple Lime offers outsourced finance director and business consulting.
Chris Spratling, Director Purple Lime said: “First and foremost the Purple Lime team are business enthusiasts, who just happen to be accountants. We believe in taking time to understand our clients’ overall challenges and goals. Not just their financial ones. We believe that clients should expect way more than just our financial expertise. They should be able to rely on us to be a real "growth partner" and one that plays a proactive role in helping them realise their true potential. It’s an approach that has served us well and continues to drive our success. Expanding our already fantastic team is key to our growth, bringing further expertise and knowledge that helps us to stay at the forefront of the changing business landscape and meet increased demand from our clients. The funding is allowing us to achieve this and bolster our management and marketing teams.”
Jordan Berg, Investment Executive at FW Capital led the deal and explained: “Purple Lime is a well-established accountancy firm with a solid reputation. Since Chris and Rachel took over the helm their ambition to grow Purple Lime even more has been evident. They are both have a very strong background of growing businesses and in addition to Purple Lime run a business growth consultancy called Chalkhill Blue. Helping SMEs to achieve ambitious growth plans is something they are well versed at achieving. I’m thrilled that the South West Investment Fund has been able to help them. It was created to drive growth, create new jobs and opportunities just like this.”
Lizzy Upton, Senior Investment Manager at the British Business Bank said: “Access to the right kind of finance at the right time can be transformational for a business. Purple Lime’s plans for growth and job creation demonstrate exactly the kind of ambition the South West Investment Fund is here to support. We’re pleased the fund is helping them to invest in new talent and expand their reach and we wish them well in their next phase of growth.”
The South West Investment Fund covers the entire South West region and provides loans from £25k to £2m and equity investment up to £5m to help small and medium sized businesses to start up, scale up or stay ahead. Fund manager FW Capital provides debt finance using the South West Investment Fund to businesses in Bristol, Gloucestershire, North and North East Somerset and Wiltshire.
The purpose of the South West Investment Fund is to drive sustainable economic growth by supporting innovation and creating local opportunity for new and growing businesses across the region. It is increasing the supply and diversity of early-stage finance, providing funds to firms that might otherwise not receive investment and helping to break down barriers in access to finance.
