After a beautiful day of fishing, the smell of freshly caught fish cooking, “doesn’t get any better than that” according to Real Fishn’s John Ede.
As the number one charter boat company in the Tweed, John has been running fishing charters and whaling watching tours for almost 25 years.
However, when John first wanted to start a fishing business back in 1996, it wasn’t common for a financial institution to back a business in the marine industry. “They could see the business had potential and with their support and financial backing, here I am.
“If Summerland hadn’t given me the start I needed, I wouldn’t be in business today, it’s as simple as that,” John added.
Like all businesses though, there have been difficult times. “Even when we’ve had floods, cyclones and things were tough, the team at Summerland have supported me, which I’ll always be grateful for,” said John.
Whenever John wanted financial support from Summerland, be it a loan or an overdraft facility he was always impressed with the turnaround time. “24 hours would have been the maximum time I would have had to wait – a decision was made almost instantaneously.
“They know my business so they can tell me very quickly if ‘yes we can do this’, or ‘no we can’t’. To date, they’ve always said yes,” John commented.
John is someone who values relationships, and this is no different with the staff at Summerland. “I walk into the branch and they know who I am. The staff ask me how the fishing is going, and they show a genuine interest in what I do – you just can’t walk away from a relationship like that.”
