A fast-growing Shropshire financial services company is targeting further expansion in 2022 as it builds on a year of success.
Q Financial Services – which has bases in Wellington and Shrewsbury – launched a new office, new departments and new services in 2021, despite the challenges of the Covid pandemic.
And director Steve Parry says the coming year offers the prospect of further growth, with a number of initiatives to develop the business already in the pipeline.
Steve said: “There is no doubt that 2021 has been a highly challenging year for everybody in the business community, but it has also been a year which has provided some opportunities and which has seen Q grow.
“We opened our new office in Shrewsbury and are already delighted with the way we have been welcomed into the town, and took on seven new recruits as we continued to expand.
“In total, Q Commercial Finance was able to access commercial funding of some £20million for our clients over the course of the year – including £13.6million from the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans Scheme.
“This is vital funding which has proved a real lifeline in a time of crisis, helping many businesses ride out the storm of the pandemic. Our work has helped our clients preserve their businesses and protect jobs and means they can now plan for better times ahead.”
Steve said Q’s mortgage and protection team had also enjoyed a highly successful year, arranging 379 separate mortgages worth a combined £50 million, including deals for 93 first-time buyers.
“The Stamp Duty holiday undoubtedly helped the property market over the last year, but there is still a huge amount of underlying strength in the sector and we expect further growth in 2022,” said Steve.
And Q Financial Planning had invested a total of £7million for its clients in the last year, with that figure expected to grow in 2022.
“We have detailed plans to develop all aspects of the business in 2022, with the possibility of expanding into new geographical areas including Wolverhampton,” said Steve.
“We have new services to offer in our will and legacy department, as well as an enhanced buildings and contents department, and see a greater presence in these sectors as a natural part of our evolution.
“A big part of our work in the coming year will be to support businesses as the world hopefully returns to normal.
“To that end, we expect areas such as business protection, ensuring clients can access finance in order to grow and advising on mergers and acquisitions to be a key part of our work in the coming months.
“And we will also be working with our clients in the property sector to ensure that housebuilders across the region can access the development finance they need to help overcome the national housing shortage.”
