International House Sydney
International House Sydney offers English language and business vocational courses to international students, mainly from South America, Asia and Europe.
Need
Travel restrictions due to COVID-19 reduced International House Sydney’s revenue as it significantly relies on international students enrolling into its courses. Whilst the business reduced operating costs, it needed additional finance.
Solution
We provided International House Sydney with a $500,000 COVID-19 Export Capital Facility to help with working capital to support the business until normal operations resume.
IH Sydney runs English language courses and business vocational courses for international students, as well as teacher training courses. Due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, no new international students were arriving. This impacted its revenue, with the business relying on its vocational and teacher training courses to keep operating.
Tim Eckenfels, CEO of IH Sydney learned about us through the peak industry body English Australia. Initially, the business secured finance from the government and its bank. When it needed additional finance to keep operations running, the business approached us for support.
“We’re still getting applications from overseas students who want to be ready when the borders open,” said Tim. “I wanted to make certain that if JobKeeper ends, or there's a continued delay on international flights, I can have my 170 employees on board and keep the business moving forward.”
With the support of Export Finance Australia, we could ensure we remained cash flow positive and continue to move forward with our expansion plans. We are now in a strong position to welcome future international students to Australia.
Tim Eckenfels
CEO, IH Sydney
Peace of mind for the future
IH Sydney’s General Manager, Fernando Passarelli, discussed this situation with our Business Development team. Our Associate Director, Michael Reznikov encouraged him to apply for our COVID-19 Export Capital Facility (COVID-19 Facility). The COVID-19 Facility enables us to support established businesses in sectors like education and tourism, to get through the COVID-19 crisis.
Michael reviewed IH Sydney’s business plan and helped put together a finance plan to keep the business growing. The business had been expanding its Darwin campus and exploring opportunities in the Gold Coast when the pandemic began. Thanks to the security our loan has provided, the business could now continue its expansion strategy.
“We had no problems paying for our Darwin campus fit out with cash from this loan behind us,” explained Tim. “There's no stress on the business – we have peace of mind knowing we can ride though whatever comes our way.”
Tim is confident that when international flights resume and international students start coming again, the business will be able to hit the ground running.
“With the support of Export Finance Australia, we could ensure we remained cash flow positive and continue to move forward with our expansion plans. We are now in a strong position to welcome future international students to Australia.”