First Milk, the UK’s largest dairy farmer co-operative, has completed a £130 million deal with Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance and Barclays Commercial Bank, to refinance its banking facilities.

The new three-year financial deal was completed at the end of August.

“The finance package put together by Barclays and Lloyds provides us with a more flexible approach to our lending and ensures that, as the volumes and price of the milk that we produce grow, the banking facility grows too,” comments Jim Maguire, First Milk’s finance director. “Importantly it provides us with an additional ‚£30m of funding compared with our previous facility, which we will use to develop our business.”

“Working alongside First Milk’s management, we have delivered a robust financial package to support their long term growth ambitions,” added Allan Ramsay, director of structured asset based lending for Barclays Asset and Sales Finance in Scotland. “The deal is a great example of Barclays continued strong appetite to provide funding to quality businesses.”

Nick Robson, regional director at Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance, echoed this view.

“A combined approach including core banking facilities from HBoS has enabled First Milk to secure bespoke funding that meets its progressive strategy,” he says. “The ability to finance using a facility linked directly to the value of the debtors and inventory is attractive to businesses like First Milk, as it enables the firm to borrow against its existing assets to free up cash flow required to execute its growth strategy.”