Ultimate Finance has provided a £300,000 asset finance facility to Pretty Legs Hosiery.

The deal enables the British manufacturer to invest in new state-of-the-art machinery so can it keep up with rapidly increasing demand for its Saphena-branded compression stockings, which are designed to help prevent deep vein thrombosis (DVT).

The company is on target to manufacture 2.8m pairs of compression stockings this year and is forecasting 3.6m next year with 7.5m pairs being produced within five years.

The growth is not only being fuelled by increased demand from both the UK healthcare and retail sectors, it has recently received FDA approval to sell into the American market.

To fulfil the orders the company has taken delivery of additional machinery from Italy, which has been paid for by refinancing their existing machinery through Ultimate Finance.

The asset finance facility also raised additional capital to assist with a management buyout.

The Saphena compression stockings have been developed over the last 10 years by teams from the University College London’s academic vascular unit, Pretty Legs Hosiery and UCL BioMedical.

Richard Tudor (pictured, right), managing director of Pretty Legs Hosiery, said: “With the growth we are experiencing I was amazed how difficult it was to access funds from the bank. Although we were three quarters of the way to sorting out the finance deal it was taking far too long to conclude.

“In contrast, Ultimate Finance was extremely flexible and quickly calculated that we had plenty of capital in our existing machinery which we could use to buy the new machine.”

Simon Moult (pictured, left), regional director of Ultimate Asset Finance, added: “SMEs are continuing to be frustrated by banks that are not willing to back businesses even though their order books are full, the business is growing impressively and security can be provided against the loan.

“Pretty Legs Hosiery is a case in point. Richard and his team have built up a fantastic business over many years which has a worldwide reputation for quality. We had no hesitation in moving quickly to support the company to enable it to become a worldwide leader in sector.”