Paragon Bank supports accessible vehicle rental company

Paragon’s SME Lending division has provided London Hire Ltd, a specialist accessible vehicle rental provider, with a £4 million funding solution to expand its fleet of vehicles.

The 40 year-established London-based specialist transportation provider will use the funding facility from Paragon Bank’s SME Lending division to purchase a range of vehicles to expand its fleet and continue to support its existing contracts and new clients.

The vehicles are all wheelchair accessible minibuses utilising converted Mercedes, Iveco and Peugeot chassis.

With group turnover of around £40 million and employing over 700 people nationwide, the London Hire Group has a fleet of 1,750 vehicles and is the largest independent provider of fully accessible mini-buses and mini-coaches in the UK. It specialises in working with local authorities to provide accessible vehicles, including most London Boroughs and councils across the South of England. The Group also works with charities, Community Transport, Patient Transfer and provides private hire for individuals, groups, organisations and businesses.

This deal has been led on behalf of Paragon by Tracey Cronin, Business Development Manager in the SME Lending Vendor Team.

Nigel Farr, Group Managing Director at London Hire Ltd, commented: “It’s been a pleasure to work with Paragon, which has shown a real interest in our business.

“The funding support will assist us on our continued growth, working with local councils and private clients to provide safe, accessible transport which promotes social inclusivity across the country.

“Tracey and the Paragon team have made this a smooth process from start to finish and we will continue working with Paragon to expand our fleet even further in the coming months.”

Tracey Cronin, Business Development Manager, added: “London Hire Ltd do incredibly important work providing vital specialist transport to many communities across the UK.

“We were delighted to work with them to support them in obtaining more vehicles and expand their business operations. We very much look forward to working with Nigel and the team in the near future.”