Warren Evans Bond

[peter tdci]

Has anyone had this offer sent to them? http://www.warrenevansbond.com/

I bought a bed from them 25 years ago and mattresses since then, which is why I got the offer. I like the ethos of the company and 7.5% gross is not too bad these days, but it's effectively an unsecured loan. I'm thinking of putting some money into it, but not a massive amount - I've take some profits on shares this year that I'll use.

Any thoughts?

[R11ysf]

peter tdci said:

Any thoughts?

Thoughts? Don't invest in ethos, invest in a solid balance sheet and lots of orders. When I bought a bed a few years back I went to their Shoreditch branch and found the staff barely noticed me and the beds on display were either badly put together or they really were that shoddy when correctly assembled.

I only went to their showroom due to seeing their adverts everywhere, an area in which they have obviously invested heavily. I would be looking very carefully at their figures before parting with cash because you like their ethos.

[Simpo Two]

Is it any different from PTP lending, but without the middleman?

There's also the risk the company will take the money and go phut anyway, either accidentally or deliberately.

[R11ysf]

I doubt they'd do it deliberately, the company has been around 25 years and is looking to expand. The only thing i can see is it is unsecured and you get none of the upside with all of the downside if the expansion works wonderfully.

[Simpo Two]

Yes; with my Duncan Bannatyne hat on I'd want a lot more than 7.5% to compensate for the risk.

What say ye - 40%?

[EskimoArapaho]

With money so cheap to borrow at the moment, I'd presume conventional lenders have looked at the business and said "no". Which would make me look deeper, at least.

[peter tdci]

Thanks for the comments.

I'd looked at their figures and had some of the same thoughts as those raised. The company has been around for a long time and it doesn't look like it is going under immediately, but I don't know why they can't (or don't want to) borrow money from the banks. And expansion for smallish businesses isn't always easy.

I wasn't about to jump in because it looked like a 'nice' company - just that I'd freed up some cash for RMG which is sitting idle. I might just buy some more of that come the 'crash'