Loni Hansen from Neighbourhood Coffee in Martinborough said her experience with WBS ‘was beyond amazing’.

Loni was already working as front of house at Neighbourhood when the owners at the time decided to sell. She and partner Paul McKenzie, who has experience in the hospitality industry himself, thought the opportunity to own the café was too good to pass up. That’s when they got in touch with WBS.

Lending and mortgage specialist at WBS, Rose Stevens, assisted Loni and Paul with setting up their commerical loan. She said she knew straight away that they were the right people to take over Neighbourhood.

‘Loni was already running the cafe, so nothing was going to change except that she’d now own it,’ Rose said.

‘Loni and Paul are a very cool people. Loni’s interactions with clients are incredible. When we saw that, we knew they would be fine.’

Loni and Paul were already familiar with WBS when they approached us about buying Neighbourhood Coffee. Paul was an existing client and had got a home loan through us back in 2015. 

‘We had tried another bank for business lending and weren’t having much success,’ Loni said. ‘We didn’t receive any communication from them after our first couple of interactions. So, we thought, “What the heck, let’s try WBS!”

Loni and Paul sent a loan enquiry through our website. Rose then emailed them back within a day and ‘got the ball rolling’.

‘Rose was in constant communication with us, guiding us and so extremely helpful,’ said Loni. ‘She and the lending team really pushed for us and believed in us. Our experience with WBS was beyond amazing.’

Are you interested in a commercial loan from WBS?

We’d be happy to discuss your borrowing needs. Phone us on (06) 370 0070, email us on [email protected] or call in to see us at 125 Queen Street, Masterton.