Housebuilder Springfield Properties has secured an additional £18 million, 12-month loan facility with its bank as part of a range of measures to help it weather the Covid-19 crisis.
The Elgin-based firm said the deal, which has increased its total credit facility with the Bank of Scotland to £85m, would allow it to withstand even the “most unlikely event” of a year-long shutdown.
Springfield’s board considered “several cash flow scenarios that assumed different lengths of shutdown”.
Chief executive Innes Smith said: “We thought ‘what would happen if we had no sales for 12 months?’
“We mapped that out and thought what we would need.”
He added the directors believed the company was in “as strong a position as it can be”.
Springfield shut all its sites across Scotland and its kit factory last month.
More than 90% of its workforce has been furloughed, and directors and senior managers have agreed to voluntary pay cuts.
Other measures taken by the Alternative Investment Market-listed firm have included delaying or cancelling land purchases, and postponing office rental and finance lease payments.
Mr Smith added: “Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic our first priority has always been the health and safety of our workforce and the wider community, and I am proud of the response of our employees to the crisis.
“Thanks to their support for our actions, the enhanced facility from the Bank of Scotland puts us in a strong financial position for the time when it is safe to resume business.”
