He has a £25,000 overdraft facility with HSBC but was turned down by all the main banks when he first sought a loan to pay for plant and machinery to get the business off the ground.  Instead he turned to Partnership Investment Finance, a £37m fund which is backed by the regional development agency Yorkshire Forward. He has taken out two loans, worth £15,000 and £30,000, with them.  Now, despite a healthy order book – "we are up on last year and there's not many people who can say that" – and annual sales nudging £800,000, his bank still refuses to lend further support. The firm now faces a cash flow crunch. Determined to save his business and the jobs of the eight people he employs, Mr Hinchcliffe spent the day on Wakefield high street asking to borrow £100,000. This is what he discovered:  Having being told on the phone by his relationship manager that there was nothing he could do to help, Mr Hinchcliffe was pleasantly surprised. "The service was very good. They have someone with a clip board and pen and they ask you straight away what you want."  The commercial banking manager was out meeting customers but the branch put in a call and she rang Mr Hinchcliffe back in the afternoon to arrange a meeting.  "All of a sudden there was a 'you can do this and can you can do that.' They were really on the ball," he said.  Knowledge of the Government's Enterprise Finance Guarantee Yes  Offered information about European Investment Bank-backed loans HSBC has not signed up to the scheme  "The girl on reception took my details and she was very efficient to be fair." He spoke to the small business manager but he dealt with smaller businesses than Mr Hinchcliffe's venture. He promised to ask a colleague to get in touch. Daryl phoned later, saying that the loan was on the large side but that he wanted to visit Mr Hinchcliffe's factory. "I did not get a blanket no," he said.  Knowledge of the Enterprise Finance Guarantee Yes  Offered information about European Investment Bank-backed loans No  Mr Hinchcliffe thought of all its high profile advertising – "you get extra with the Halifax".  "I stood there for eight minutes before I could get anyone to talk to," he said. "Eventually someone came up and asked if she could help. Then to be fair, the lady who served me was very efficient." The business person was in Rotherham in a meeting, but they called and she picked up the phone and was happy to talk: "She informed me that they would only lend up to £15,000 and that included the overdraft," said a slightly shocked Mr Hinchcliffe. "She said that was going to change on March 1 to £25,000. I said 'How about £100,000?' and there was silence. She did ring me back later to apologise that she was in a meeting but she told me the same thing again."  Knowledge of the Enterprise Finance Guarantee No  Offered information about European Investment Bank-backed loans: No  Again first impressions were not great. "They do not have anyone to serve you and there was only one person on the till. She explained they don't usually do business banking in the branch. But she went upstairs and got a lady who was a relationship manager for business banking."  "She was only youngish but she was really on the ball. I said something about the Government scheme and she got a computer and showed me that there's loads of information on their website. She said they can do it for up to 10 years and have a deferred payment option of up to 24 months. She arranged an appointment straight away. You know when you get something like that, she was keen to do business."  "She asked about the company. She was fact finding from me. Some people just ask you the usual questions, XYZ. She went into it all. She was definitely a credit to Lloyds." And the cash? "She said we lend up to half a million."  Knowledge of the Enterprise Finance Guarantee Yes  Offered information about European Investment Bank-backed loans No  Mr Hinchcliffe said he had lost the will to live by this point and had to leave Barclays for another day.  "Two years ago I had been around them all and told them about the business plan. But nobody wanted to listen then. This time around I came away thinking there's a glimmer of light. Maybe because of the economic situation it might help me. I came away thinking quite positively."  Your Business will return to Wakefield in a month's time to find out if Mr Hinchcliffe has been successful. In the meantime, he is considering selling a stake in the business to a group of private investors.  Part of the Composite Door Company's short-term funding pressures was a tax bill for VAT and PAYE on staff salaries.  Mr Hinchcliffe said he was unaware of HM Revenue & Customs, new business support service, which has so far agreed to defer more than £350m in tax from over 20,000 businesses to help them through the recession. He called the number and has agreed a new payment schedule for the VAT. The outstanding PAYE has proved more difficult, with an inspector simply stating that he had to pay up.  HMRC, tel: 0845 302 1435
Mark Hinchliffe emerged in positive mood after touring Wakefield to secure    &pound;100,000 for his struggling business.