What we learned from three little pigs (Published July 2006)
Last month we featured our
client, Red Rhino, and his on-site
ecological aggregate crusher. It seems,
unsurprisingly, that there is a link
between animals and environmental
products.
Do you remember the story of the
three little pigs? The first one built his
house of straw to protect him from the big
bad wolf. But "the wolf huffed and puffed
and blew the house down, then gobbled up
the first little pig".
His brother took careful note and
improved the design by using bricks. But
our client, Agrifibre Technologies Ltd, and
their business partners, have re-examined the
original specification, gone "back to basics" and
come up with a brilliant "wolf-proof" house
of straw. Their "Modcell" is a pre-fabricated
wooden framed building panel filled with straw
bales clad with lime rendering. Stainless steel
reinforcement keeps it in shape.
York City Council wanted a new
environmental office block, a two-storey "ECO Depot Office" with
a minimum of carbon emissions and energy conservation by use of
natural materials. Mowlems are the main contractor and Agrifibre
supply the building panels. Panels approx 10ft by 6ft by 2ft thick
keep the wolves out, and the heat in.
"Many of our clients have . . . the ideas, the products and the
transactions; we have the finance, the skill, and the imagination to
help them to put it together safely."
The panel manufacturing process is brilliantly simple. The
straw comes from local farms and the panels are made with simple
tools and farm machinery. However, despite the simplicity of the
product, funding the manufacture for what will be the largest
straw-based building in Europe was
more problematic. Agrifibre was
unable to fund manufacture, until
Raymond Raven introduced us.
Agrifibre, a new company, can obtain
no supplier credit. So we arranged for
the suppliers, each secured by a Supplier
Undertaking, to sell wood, steel, straw and
lime to us on normal credit.
Mowlem issued a JCT contract to
Agrifibre, and have proved very helpful in its
implementation. They pay us agreed valuations
for materials and panels delivered by Agrifibre.
We recover our exposure, profit to Agrifibre.
So we have constructed a secure trade
finance facility for Agrifibre which needs little
of our money because Mowlem pay us before we
are due to pay most suppliers. This is economical
for Agrifibre, and can be expanded as they build
on this success. Their resulting profits should
keep the wolf from their door. Ask Peter Homer,
MD: peterh@agrifibretechnologies.com.
Many of our clients have brilliant products,
but might be described as companies of (financial) straw. They are
rarely financially strong. They have the ideas, the products and the
transactions; we have the finance, the skill, and the imagination to
help them to put it together safely. It really is a privilege to be in a
unique position to assist such environmentally wonderful clients.
A straw poll of our clients... oh never mind. That would be the
last straw!
Written by David Ross Director
Download
the Article 'Three Little Pigs' at www.fairfaxgerrard.co.uk/docs/BusMon 0706 Three Little Pigs.pdf
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