Whilst Gordon Moody has been providing treatment for over 50 years, when Matthew Hickey joined as CEO there had never been a residential treatment centre for women. Matthew wanted to resolve this issue by opening a centre that could provide a home away from home for women to live in a therapeutic community where they can work through their recovery and rehabilitation journey together.
PERMANENT HOME
The treatment programme started its pilot at a temporary location in Birmingham but the service needed a permanent home and Gordon Moody needed capital to purchase a property and any potential refurbishments/conversions. The Gordon Moody board were keen to own the property to provide a sense of permanence for the service and its users. Properties were identified in Wolverhampton that would provide a safe, secure, and welcoming environment for the service users and the property was purchased from Gordon Moody funds. The charity was looking for a lender to replenish reserves and Reliance Bank provided a loan to assist with the costs of refurbishment and conversion work at the property.
Although Gordon Moody had an existing relationship with another bank, with the support of their financial consultant, Gordon Moody was keen to look for funding amongst other banks in the market. That’s when they found Reliance Bank and were introduced to Morag Davies – Head of Commercial Banking for Reliance Bank.
Matthew Hickey, CEO of Gordon Moody, commented:
“Reliance Bank came ahead of the other banks in terms of their ethics and values. The Gordon Moody Trustees liked that we could work with Reliance Bank, which was formed as the bank for The Salvation Army.
“The Trustees knew that they could benefit from the knowledge and experience Reliance Bank has gained by serving the charity sector and in particular by serving its customer and shareholder The Salvation Army, who also help people living with addiction. The connection with Reliance Bank fitted with whom Gordon Moody wanted to collaborate with. The beauty of working with Reliance Bank was that they understood our ethics and values as well as our business model.
“Using the funds provided by Reliance Bank, we are currently towards the end of the development. We will pick up the keys in June 2023 with our first cohort at the new site coming into treatment in early July. We are future-proofing the structure so that it is energy efficient.
“Morag understood what we were trying to do straight away, she wanted to make it work, she wanted to move heaven and earth for us. There was trust, faith, and agility within the process.
“Although the process had some complexity, such as a unilateral notice that affected the valuation of the property, we were also going through a re-tendering for our services. Morag understood the nuances.
“Reliance Bank’s appetite for risk was very balanced. Working through our business plan with Morag meant we could be adaptable and flexible. Her flexibility allowed us to make changes to how much we needed to borrow. We see our relationship with Reliance Bank as a long-term partnership.”