HSBC backs Caithness training firm with £210,000 funding

The £60,000 loan is part of an overall £210,000 funding package from HSBC which has enabled HelCat Training to expand its premises and double the number of contracts won.

HelCat Training, which delivers theoretical and practical health and safety training to businesses throughout the UK, used HSBC finance to expand its premises from one room to eight over an 18 month growth period. The extra teaching space has allowed HelCat Training to bring on six extra specialist staff and diversify their scope of training services.

With both comprehensive indoor and outdoor facilities, Helcat Training’s offering varies from outdoor forklift and scaffolding training to theory in IT and leadership. Clients range from those who have recently been made unemployed and are looking to boost their skills to offshore workers and public sector organisations.

Andrew Little, head of business banking for HSBC in Scotland, said: “By diversifying the business and identifying different channels for growth, HelCat has established itself as the number one training provider in the region. Helcat started off with one room and one member of staff, now the business is a dynamic provider of training and development for a number of industries. As an aspirational SME, we were more than happy to support Helcat’s evolving business needs by funding the development of its training site.”

The finance from HSBC was allocated from the bank’s national £10 billion SME fund to actively support UK SMEs. £500 million is specifically designated to support Scottish firms and rebalance the economy outside of London.

Helen Mackay, founder of HelCat Training, said: “Our reputation for delivering outstanding training has attracted more contracts, and contracts of longer length, from companies based all over the UK. Our aim was to provide clients with a more comprehensive training offering but to do this we needed to firstly expand our site. HSBC completely understood our aspirations and provided us with the funding that has not only help us develop our premises but grow our expertise.”