Automotive lighting specialist set for growth after securing funds through business lender

A vehicle lighting designer and manufacturer is growing its business after receiving £150,000 in funding from the Community Investment Enterprise Fund (CIEF) through BCRS Business Loans.

Bee Lighting, based in Redditch, Worcestershire, specialises in high-quality lighting design and manufacturing for high-end vehicles.

The company collaborates with renowned brands such as McLaren, Aston Martin, Lamborghini, Lotus and Ford.

Last year the company’s founders, Paul Crees and Colin Fulford, who established Bee Lighting in 2006, embraced an opportunity to return to running the business after time away.

They are using the CIEF funding received from Wolverhampton-based BCRS Business Loans to help with working capital, which is supporting day-to-day operations and enabling the business to increase sales and production.

Bee Lighting operations director Colin Fulford said: “Despite having a solid business plan, we struggled to access funds, but BCRS saw our strategy and got behind it.

“The funding is really helping us to get the business growing again. It has helped us secure at least 20 jobs and has put us in a really good position to win new business.

“Since receiving the support from BCRS we have increased our orders, and the business is going from strength to strength. We are now confident that we will be able to keep expanding.

“We have recruited three new people within the last three months and plan to create more new jobs within the next year too.

“It was simple to apply for the funding. Our business development manager at BCRS was very responsive and easy to deal with. I was surprised at how straightforward the process was.”

BCRS Business Loans senior business development manager Angie Preece said: “Bee Lighting is an innovative business that delivers challenging lighting projects for some of the world’s leading brands.

“The company has great potential and I am pleased that BCRS has been able to provide the support that the team needs to grow sales and capitalise on future opportunities.”

Funded by Lloyds, along with social impact investor Better Society Capital (BSC) and contributions from community development finance institutions BCRS Business Loans, Business Enterprise Fund and Finance for Enterprise, the £62m CIEF offers funds to businesses unable to access finance from traditional sources.

BCRS Business Loans is supporting the CIEF delivery in the West Midlands and Wales by providing secure loans between £25,000 and £250,000 to enable growth and recovery plans.

Bee Lighting was able to access the CIEF funding following a referral from Lloyds Bank.

Since BCRS Business Loans was founded in 2002, it has provided loans worth more than £95m to businesses. 

BCRS Business Loans has achieved one of its best years ever for delivering funds, providing £9,900,502 to 124 businesses during the 2024-25 financial year, a 68 per cent increase in the number of SMEs supported compared to the previous year.

In the last financial year, lending through BCRS Business Loans resulted in the safeguarding of 889 jobs and creation of 317 roles while adding £51.2m to the economy of the West Midlands, surrounding region and Wales. Of the funding, 34.6 per cent went to the UK’s most disadvantaged areas.

Pictured from left to right: Nigel Jones, Bee Lighting commercial director, Paul Crees, managing director, and Colin Fulford, operations director