Apollo is a global motorhome, campervan and caravan rental business, operating in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Europe, the UK and the US.
Apollo
Apollo is a tourism business operating a fleet of quality RVs in Australia, New Zealand, North America and Europe.
Need
Border closures and domestic lockdowns due to COVID-19 impacted Apollo’s rental income with a majority of its fleet unutilised, Apollo approached us for financial support.
Solution
Our support helped Apollo with employment costs, creditor repayments and facility costs, enabling Apollo to pivot to domestic customers and continue its business operations.
Apollo manufactures, builds and retails motorhomes, as well as renting holiday vehicles. They also sell end-of-life assets through their wholesale and retail network.
The border closures in March 2020 meant Apollo lost their international travel customers overnight, which represented 80% of their business.
To survive, CEO and Managing Director Luke Trouchet said the business needed to act fast. That’s when they decided to focus on domestic customers instead. To do this, Apollo needed additional finance to help cover working capital costs.
“Because of our motorhome assets, we’ve typically financed the business through asset finance,” explained Luke. “But we were staring down the barrel of potentially not having enough working capital if the pandemic continued for a couple of years.”
We’re very grateful for the support we’ve received – I've already recommended Export Finance to some of our industry colleagues.
Luke Trouchet
CEO and Managing Director, Apollo
Surviving and thriving
Apollo approached us about the COVID-19 Export Capital Facility, which assists formerly profitable businesses that have been negatively impacted by the pandemic.
“We went through an exhaustive due-diligence process to ensure we ticked all the boxes,” said Luke.
“The QLD Business Development team were very supportive. They went to great lengths to understand the different aspects to the business.”
Access to the facility gave the business the ability to execute its pivot strategy – which is already paying off.
“With Australia starting to open up, we've not only been able to retain many of our people, we're also employing more, so we can get back to the same level we used to operate at.”
With the loan supporting Apollo’s working capital in the short term, Luke says the business is set to thrive once international tourists return.
“COVID-19 isn't here for perpetuity. The world will return to normal. And when it does, we'll be well-placed to capitalise on that once again,” he said.