John Beaney, Head of International, HSBC Invoice Finance (UK) Ltd

Two thousand and twelve will be a defining one for international receivables finance and the factoring industry. The economic conditions are likely to challenge us whether it is through slowing growth in the emerging economies of the world, an election year in the US and recession – and continued fragility – in Europe. It is a year in which we have the ability to demonstrate our value to shareholders, clients and indeed governments.

Today’s regulatory framework prefers products which are efficient in the use of a bank’s capital and that is a huge opportunity for our industry. Services which help support sales when orders can be hard to come by are needed by businesses. Enabling them to offer attractive terms even to new customers and in new markets makes what we do doubly relevant.

To fulfil our potential, however, we have to deliver on our promise of excellence in credit management, supporting sales to sound businesses and helping clients to avoid losses when failures occur. We must continue to use our understanding of receivables to successfully balance risks and reaffirm our credentials as lenders of first resort.

HSBC starts the year in excellent shape. Our UK receivables business increased support for international business significantly in 2011. We’ve built this success on a service platform that earned us the recognition as ‘Best Factor’ by Trade Finance Magazine and ‘Best Commercial Credit Team’ from Credit Today and is also reflected in accreditation by the Institute of Credit Management, so we look ahead at 2012 with confidence.

Josep Selles, General Manager of Eurofactor Spain

Based on the statistics taken from the end of November 2011, we can say that this has been an excellent year for the factoring industry in Spain. Considering the economical environment, the flat consumer rates, the country not in recession but growing at just around one per cent, a growth of 9.6 per cent is a figure we would have taken at the beginning of the year.

With reference to the annual figures we can observe that domestic factoring is only 6.5 per cent up and the weight of the growth of the sector relies on international factoring (26 per cent), as export factoring was the one that grew the most (28.2 per cent) – probably a consequence of the fact that the Spanish companies which have a competitive product have increased their exports, trying to find markets with a higher appetite than ours.

The main problem has been how to deal with the portion of factoring where the public administration is the debtor. The traditional delay of payment within the public sector has increased strongly, creating a lot of difficulties – for the industries that were unable to advance the new invoices as the old ones remained unpaid, and for the factoring companies that have been increasing the portion of this business in their portfolio.

To be honest, it would be good to know someone who could accurately predict what is going to happen even in the next five minutes, economically speaking, because as I write this, what I say could quickly become ‘factoring fiction’.

We have had a change in Government but also, more importantly, a change of policies in the European Central Bank that has relaxed the financial constraints of financial institutions; this situation may lead to a certain recovery, but I’m afraid that only in the second half of the year.

I have no reason to believe that the factoring industry will not maintain at least the same positive trend that it started with in 2010 and maintained in 2011.  Also certain measures are being taken by the new Government to help the administrations to fulfil their commitments; a situation that may unblock the concentration of risk and allow us to offer more financing facilities to the industries.

Let’s keep the optimism. 2012 has an extra day. Let’s hope we will use it to improve the economical situation, not only in Spain.

Ken Hitzig, Chairman of the Board, Accord Business Credit, Canada

Our outlook a year ago was for no ‘double dip’ and no significant growth. We were right on both counts. While the economy in the U.S. was very weak, some improvements were noted in the second half of 2011, notably growth of GDP and a lowering of unemployment. However, the rate of improvement was small and if this continues it will take many years to return to ‘normal’ conditions.

There was some deterioration in the Canadian economy in 2011. GDP growth was very low, and although unemployment figures fell, the number of people out of work remained painfully high. The resource sector, a major part of the Canadian economy, suffered from a world-wide glut of oil and gas. A major confrontation between the environmental movement and the resource industry is looming for 2012. The resource people need to build thousands of kilometres of pipelines to the Pacific Coast (to ship to an energy-hungry China) and to the southern U.S. where there are refineries but not enough oil. Tens of thousands of jobs hang in the balance. There will be tremendous pressure put on the Obama administration by the labour movement, on the one hand, and the environmentalists on the other. Competition in the Canadian factoring market continued to be intense in 2011. Total volume handled declined ten per cent from the previous year to about CA$4.5 billion. The number of players declined as well, to 51 at 31 December 2011 from 55 a year earlier.

The market continued to be dominated by two companies, National Bank of Canada and Accord Financial; together they control two-thirds of the total volume. The main competitors for the non-recourse factors are the credit insurers who offer attractive rates but tend to be fickle with credit.

At this point (mid-January 2012) it is difficult to foresee any significant change in the economy for 2012.

Current exchange rate:

1 euro = 1.30127184 Canadian dollars

Marius Savin, Director of Transaction Banking, Standard Chartered Bank Singapore

The key industry players managed to grow their business further in 2011 across a variety of markets, after strengthening their credit models in 2010. In my view, this was the result of better focus on the innovative client value proposition across the entire supply chain as well as ‘slimming’ business models. Though these elements were always present in the peoples’ minds, the challenges faced from the financial crisis made them a must for business survival.

The 2012 outlook seems more challenging as there are many open issues still unfolding; however I do believe that there will be growth opportunities (no matter the size of the business) either by capturing new developing trade flows (Asia, Africa, Middle East) or by identifying niches (specific industries or trade corridors). At the same time, balanced resource/capabilities allocation and efficiency will become the primary focus for successful management.

Article contributed by BCR Factorscan

This growth comes on the back of continued growth in advances over the past five quarters and shows that UK and Irish firms are increasingly opting for this type of finance over other forms of lending. The latest figures also show invoice finance clients are again choosing not to access all of the funds available to them. Total available funds this quarter were £22.2bn, with £6.5bn of finance available but not drawn.

Of the total funding provided by members, SMEs received almost 40%, or just over £4bn this quarter.  A decreasing gap in the level of advances between SMEs and businesses with turnover above £100m suggests a growing confidence amongst SMEs as they get comfortable with increasing debt levels. This is supported by total clients’ sales growing 14% over the past year to reach £59bn.

The latest ABFA economic report also shows that export and import factoring have both grown substantially, enjoying a year-on-year rise in client sales of 48% and 47% respectively. This leap in demand for import and export factoring indicates that while the UK market remains sluggish, clients are looking to customers outside of the UK to buy their products, and are choosing this type of finance to help facilitate overseas trade.

Credit protection payments by ABFA members to their clients have also continued to decline, dropping by 27% over the last year to total £4.9m, consistent with the UK-wide trend of lower default rates on loans and a stable rate of write offs. Together with the shortening average debtor day numbers both these factors reflect one of the key product benefits of asset based finance, namely introducing firmer debtor disciplines.

Kate Sharp, chief executive of the Asset Based Finance Association, said: “The figures in our new economic report indicate growing business confidence amongst invoice finance clients, both SMEs and larger firms. This contrasts markedly with the general negative sentiment concerning the state of the wider UK economy and a general contraction in the stock of lending. Firms using invoice finance are seeing rising sales and are continuing to have access to an ample supply of finance. With total client numbers rising by 244 in the last quarter, the invoice finance sector is providing much needed finance to many UK and Irish businesses and is, and will continue to be, a significant contributor to supporting the wider economic recovery.”

Article contributed by the ABFA

The ‘2020 Vision – the Future of Business’ report focuses on the future of business over the next decade.

Among its key findings, it predicts a surge in the number of micro-businesses, often operating outside of traditional business hours and premises, as larger companies become unable to absorb the 5 million new workers expected by 2020.

It suggests large numbers of these ‘semi-detached’ firms – who group and share their expertise depending on their current need – will quickly overtake traditional businesses and will focus themselves around small and medium-sized enterprise ‘hubs’, rather than in major towns and cities.

In addition, the report highlights the emergence of a much greater dependency upon IT and mobile commerce by 2020, as access points and connection speeds increase exponentially and entrepreneurs seek to tap further the low overheads and barriers to entry afforded by a virtual business.

However, despite progress, the report warns that entrepreneurs of the next decade will still depend as much on business fundamentals, such as access to funding, as their present-day counterparts.

Edward Rimmer, UK chief executive of Bibby Financial Services, said: “If anything, the past few years have shown that UK businesses have the ability to adapt to face challenges head-on and evolve to respond to new opportunities. However, despite their adaptability, businesses can do little without access to the cash they need to grow and develop.

“The way companies need, use and access funding will certainly change in the coming years and it is important the finance industry evolves to meet these new demands head-on.”

Article contributed by BCR Factorscan

The UK economy might be on the road to recovery, but business confidence is still faltering with 28% of UK businesses admitting they are concerned about generating and winning new business over the next six months. This was revealed in the latest SME Trends Index from commercial finance brokerage, Hilton-Baird Financial Solutions.

The biannual survey showed that UK businesses are ultimately worried about the future, with only 33% of respondents expecting their business to expand in the six months to October – down from 45% last November – despite the growth recorded in UK GDP during the first half of the year. These business fears are prevalent across all industry sectors and sizes, with the construction, haulage and printing, publishing and packaging industries the most apprehensive as to what the immediate future will hold.

Further analysis shows that UK businesses, whilst primarily concerned about the prospects of securing new business over the six months to October 2011, have a number of additional areas of concern. The figures revealed that 25% of engineering and maintenance firms are worried about their customers taking too long to pay for goods and services already rendered. More than a third of manufacturing firms are anxious about the potential rise in costs of raw material and fuel (35%), with 28% of companies turning over more than £3 million sharing this concern.

Despite these findings, there are methods businesses can employ to help secure their future and ensure a positive outlook. In particular, companies using invoice finance and asset finance had higher expectations for their business over the next six months, with 41% of invoice finance users and 39% of asset finance users predicting that their business will expand over the next six months. This compares to only 33% of bank overdraft users, signifying that the type of funding that SMEs secure can impact on business confidence.

Managing Director of Hilton-Baird Financial Solutions, Evette Orams, said: “Whilst sadly the findings of our business confidence survey conveying that SMEs continue to experience significant challenges during this period of recovery are no great surprise, the results do indicate that there are glimmers of hope. We have found there to be a correlation between increased business confidence and businesses using flexible funding solutions, which are tailored to fit their needs.”

Evette added: “By utilising the correct funding, a business will undoubtedly see a positive effect on their strategic path and on their investment. Access to cash can open many doors and allows for optimism as businesses are able to take advantage of opportunities as they arise, be they a new order, venturing into new territories or simply agreeing early settlement discounts with their suppliers. Confidence is key not only to a business’ success, but in fact in everything we do, which is fundamental to our recovery as a nation.”

Evette Orams - Managing Director, Hilton-Baird

Article contributed by Hilton-Baird Financial Solutions.

To find out more about Hilton-Baird Financial Solutions call 023 8070 7390 or visit www.hiltonbaird.co.uk/fs.

“We thought it might be useful to put together the following summary of the conclusions that we have reached from all the various results:

1. Customers Want More Flexible and Unrestricted Invoice Finance Funding – with the exception of cost, funding restrictions were the top issues for potential customers. They also wanted more flexibility around the provision of funding.
2. Invoice Financing Costs are High but also Misunderstood – cost is the key issue that businesses say is inhibiting the expansion of the invoice finance market. However to some degree prospective customers may also be over-estimating the cost of invoice finance. Promotion of more transparent costing would help.
3. Customers Think Invoice Finance is Overpriced – by an average of c.19% and a 25% price reduction would satisfy some 75% of potential customers.
4. Customers Want Instant Online Setup and Approval – the second most popular improvement to invoice finance generally was the requirement for facilities to be able to be approved instantly via the internet.
5. Product Awareness is Low – customers did not appear to understand the full range of invoice finance products that are currently on the market. Several of these already addressed particular requirements that they raised during the research.
6. Invoice Finance can have Funding Advantages over Overdraft – we found that overdraft is currently used far more widely than invoice finance. However, the levels of funding raised through invoice finance, as a percentage of outstanding debtors, can be significantly higher than that available via overdraft. Overdrafts also appear to have been reduced or removed in some cases
7. Invoice Finance has Growth Potential – the invoice finance industry has the potential to grow if the profiles of these products and providers were raised with potential customers. Our findings suggest that there is greater demand for invoice finance than is being met at present.
8. Product and Brand Awareness is Low – greater awareness of the benefits of invoice finance, and of the funders providing these services, would lead to a greater uptake.
9. Banks and Accountants are Key to Invoice Finance Market Growth – potential customers saw promotion of invoice finance via banks and accountants as the key to industry growth. They also advocated more general industry related marketing and felt that government support for invoice finance would also play a role in growing the market.

Full details of the various studies can be found at: http://www.glennblackman.co.uk/research/quicklink-to-our-2-invoice-finance-market-research-summaries/

Glenn Blackman

Article contributed by Glenn Blackman MBA MCIM, Managing Director of Cashflow Acceleration Limited, a specialist invoice finance brokerage. Glenn also writes regarding invoice finance and related matters at http://www.glennblackman.co.uk/

The UK and wider market

The asset based finance sector is very well established in the UK and has had many years of uninterrupted growth with the exception of 2009 when most key indicators fell. Nevertheless, 2010 saw a return to growth in most of the key areas, including a record client turnover of £212.3bn. This return to record highs in client turnover was achieved partly as a result of the modest growth in the economy but also the continued switch away from traditional bank lending.

While 2009 saw a severe dip in the UK’s economy, since then the picture has become a bit more positive with growth in both the factoring and invoice discounting industries, plus the wider economy. Admittedly, the UK’s growth has been extremely limited, but this contrasts sharply with that of the asset based finance industry which has almost returned to pre-recession levels of lending and activity.

Export finance is another area within the industry that is becoming increasingly popular. Client sales in this area have increased by 39% to £3.5bn over the past year. This growth has most likely been assisted by the sluggish UK economy as many businesses look to exports as a way of exploiting the growth opportunities abroad, a trend that’s set to continue.

However, faster economic growth is likely to be hard to achieve with the huge cuts in public expenditure that the present coalition government believes is necessary to bring down the budget deficit. The flow of finance to personal and business borrowers also remains well below its peak, although Project Merlin, the agreement between government and the major banks to increase lending to SMEs, opens up opportunities for asset based finance to assist the banks in meeting their agreed lending quotas.

So far this year, the Asset Based Finance Association (ABFA) has released two sets of quarterly figures, both showing a return to strong growth within the industry. The first of these was in March which showed total lending growing by 8% year-on-year, and with advances from members at the end of 2010 totalling £14.9bn.

The very latest figures from June 2011 show this growth has continued, and indeed is actually outperforming all other types of business lending. Total advances from members last quarter has seen growth of 9% year-on-year (see chart 1), whereas wider bank lending actually contracted by 2.5% in the same period. The figures also show turnover growth of 15% year-on-year, with total client sales in the quarter of £55.8bn (see chart 2).

These latest statistics show just how successful the industry is; with very positive sales growth for companies using invoice finance, plus there is no shortage of available funds. Compared to other major forms of business lending, asset based finance has grown the most, as both clients and lenders realise its inherent strengths in these unpredictable economic times.

The ABFA has also for the first time calculated that clients actually have sufficient funds in place and are now actively not choosing to access all the finance available to them. From the most recent figures in June, total funding available was £21.1bn yet only £14.8bn was utilised by clients, meaning there were £6.3bn of funds still available.

The international market

Growth within the asset based finance sector has not been confined to the UK; it is also continuing to grow internationally. In Europe the industry saw 19% growth in 2009-2010, North and South America saw 31% growth and Asia saw an incredible 69% growth over the same period. This rapid international growth demonstrates the global embryonic nature of the industry and its products. As the benefits of products such as factoring and invoice discounting continue to be acknowledged and become more established across the globe, this growth should begin to plateau as the products reach their natural market penetration.

This strong growth does however contradict the international economic climate. With much of Europe still in recession during 2009-2010 the asset based finance industry still managed to grow a defiant 19%. The challenging financial climate has actually assisted in increasing the popularity and awareness of asset based finance. With many countries struggling to stabilise their economies, they have increasingly turned to asset based finance products as a lower risk business lending alternative. Furthermore, traditional forms of funding have been drying up, but firms still need working capital to fund and grow their businesses, and asset based financiers have often been able to bridge this gap in the market.

As more and more markets become aware of the benefits of asset based finance, we will begin to see increased visibility of the products which in turn should result in the continued global growth within the industry.

In summary

Right now the international invoice finance and factoring industry is uniquely placed to assist small businesses with cash flow requirements. The banks are clearly struggling to reconcile a number of conflicting issues. The legacy of the recession is a dampened risk appetite, and rightly so, some lessons need to be learned. This is coupled with a legislative requirement for banks to hold greater levels of capital but at the same time they are being encouraged by governments to lend more. Asset based finance has proved to be a very capital efficient and low risk product.

By using asset based finance methodologies, greater levels of finance can be made available to good businesses across the globe that may have been hampered by a lack of liquidity.  The above evidence suggests that asset based finance will be a key product for the international economy and its recovery. Plus, with firms using invoice finance seeing their sales rise, even in the face of a sluggish economy, it’s clear that these products are the way forward for growing businesses across the globe.

Contributed by ABFA

“Much of our historic research has suggested that one of the key issues for the invoice finance industry is that invoice finance, factoring and invoice discounting are not well known or understood by businesses.

“This prompted us to ask a sample of 100 SMEs businesses (Small and Medium Sized Enterprises) the following question: ‘Our research suggests that invoice finance is not well known amongst businesses, how would you suggest this could be best addressed?’

“The answers given to this question were as follows:

• 27% Bank to advertise it as part of banking packages and bank offers
• 25% Accountants to promote it
• 18% Advertising in business start up magazines
• 9% Telesales
• 6% TV advertising
• 5% Radio advertising
• 3% Mailshots
• 2% Networking
• 2% Companies House recommending invoice finance
• 2% HMRC recommending invoice finance
• 1% The employers pack to feature an article about invoice finance

“An initial review of these results suggests that promotion via banks and accountants is most widely considered to be the best way of growing awareness of invoice finance. However, some 43% of the above answers are purely methods of marketing, advocated by the respondents.

“Perhaps the most interesting, and possibly overlooked, segment of these results comes from the 5% of respondents that have recommended some kind of government backed promotion i.e. Companies House recommending invoice finance, the employers pack featuring an article or HMRC recommending it.

“There is also an interesting thread from the 18% of respondents that recommend advertising in business start up magazines. If at this early stage in a business’ development invoice finance were to be promoted and recommended as a main stream solution to funding requirements, these products might be able to assist a greater percentage of businesses.

“In summary, whilst at face value these results may seem to suggest a variety of disparate marketing activities, there are some interesting ideas buried in the detail of these results. For example, a government backed promotion of invoice finance, perhaps to start up businesses or even via the key parties that businesses turn to for advice, such as accountants and banks, could yield significant results. This could have a huge impact on the number of UK businesses that could be helped using these flexible funding solutions.”

Glenn Blackman

Article contributed by Glenn Blackman MBA MCIM, Managing Director of Cashflow Acceleration Limited, a specialist invoice finance brokerage. Glenn also writes regarding invoice finance and related matters at http://www.glennblackman.co.uk/

“Whilst there is now mounting criticism regarding the lack of bank lending, banks have also previously been criticised for irresponsible lending. It is essential that banks and funders ensure that responsible frameworks are in place for the benefit of the whole economy. Whilst economic figures have shown growth, the reality is that day-to-day trading remains tough. Therefore, looking at funding solutions which allow greater levels of flexibility and growth in line with turnover is an excellent way of ensuring funding is available when any opportunities arise.

“Taking all of this into account, I think we will start to see an increase in the use of alternative forms of funding, such as invoice finance, where providers have the scope to look beyond rigid financial criteria. This would also allow them to consider the wider picture of a business’ health and suitability for the many tailored solutions available to assist the UK SME.”

Evette Orams - MD, Hilton Baird

Contributed by Hilton Baird

When Positive Cash Flow Finance was launched in December 2007, it entered the market on the eve of tremendous changes to the economic environment in the UK that would cause huge disruption for businesses up and down the country.

First Capital Factors, on the other hand, sprang up amongst the economic ‘green shoots’ of 2010 as the economy began to return to surer footing – albeit with some way to go before a return to the pre-crisis climate.

Yet both factors have mined the opportunities that arose from each side of the financial crisis and, what’s more, both insist that far from struggling to compete with large, bank-owned factors, their position as small, owner-managed receivables finance providers actually gave them a competitive edge during a difficult period.

David Smith, Managing Director of Positive Cash Flow Finance, explains, “We set up in December 2007, just as the financial world was changing. That created some great opportunities, because the banks that had been previously shifting money to all sorts of businesses suddenly started to re-examine their existing portfolio and, in many cases, managed away from very good businesses that we were then able to support. The timing wasn’t amazing,” Smith admits, “but it worked out quite well.”

For Positive, a strong funding line from Lloyds TSB and an experienced management team helped the company not only to survive such a major crisis so early in the business’ lifetime, but exploit opportunities in the market that were being overlooked by the banks.

“The banks stopped lending, but we had un-drawn credit lines that we were able to use, so it got us into situations where we were able to fund businesses that ordinarily wouldn’t have gone to a relatively new, independent factor. But the reality is that people had a hard time with bank managers during the recession and instead came to secure funding with us; a very much relationship-driven company that tries to work with the clients.”

David Marsden, of First Capital Factors, saw a similar situation to be taken advantage of in the post-crisis environment, with the banks exercising caution in their business lending activity – particularly in regards to smaller companies – even once the worst of the crisis was over. Marsden launched his first factoring venture, RDM Factors, in 1989, after working with smaller businesses and seeing the extent of their cash flow difficulties as a chartered accountant. After 17 years, the business was sold to SME Invoice Finance in 2006.

“About two years after we sold RDM, I began to see more opportunity in the economic environment, which had many similarities to the climate in 1989. Given the experience I was now armed with from RDM, I felt more able to do it again. I got together with members of my old team to establish First Capital, with former RDM partner John Bush as a consultant.

“There have been changes in the market in the last few years – obviously the recession – but I do see more opportunities arising as a slow recovery begins. I think the banks will remain prudent, and won’t find it easy to take advantage of some of the opportunities that will appear in the market as they might not appear commercially viable to them. As a smaller operation, we can service those clients in the way that many small businesses want to be serviced, and we can do so profitably and safely.”

But both Smith and Marsden feel that it is not just the banks’ unwillingness to fund smaller firms that enables independent factors to capture market share in the UK. According to Marsden, the personal service offered by First Capital Factors is what gives the company and other independent factors like it their competitive edge.

“It’s not just the personal attention, though that is an easy way to sum it up in a few words,” Marsden states. “It is more than that. There are a number of small factors like First Capital Factors that, like their clients, are owner-managed – we worry if it’s a slow week the same as our clients do. Because we don’t have layers of interim management, we are able to get much closer to our clients and furthermore, because we tend to have smaller rather than larger exposures, the average client will also be a lot smaller and that enables us, at a senior management level, to form a close relationship with the client at the same level. It is unlikely that those at a senior level at a large, bank-owned factor would be able to get as close to a customer with a £100,000 funding line as we would.”

Smith agrees. “I think the crisis changed the way people look at what we do. The only thing that’s unique about our business is the service we provide and the people who provide it. Prior to that, it was very much about price and maximising the most funding, but once things wobbled, some people found that their lender was less likely to support them. I think that business owners now look at value for money and say ‘right, what I want from this arrangement is a relationship and a partnership with my funder’ – and that has definitely worked in our favour. In three and a half years we haven’t lost a client due to service.”

Another significant change that should benefit smaller independent factors, according to Marsden, is the restrictions on home loans that have followed the crisis. Marsden explains that prior to the crisis, many small business owners opted to re-mortgage their homes or take out home loans to acquire funding in the £50,000 to £100,000 bracket, which directly competed with funding lines from small factoring companies. Now that this has become more difficult – not to mention less appealing – businesses could start to approach smaller factors for similar sized funding lines.

Yet significant challenges remain for independent factors that are necessarily not faced by bank subsidiaries – particularly in terms of funding.

“The thing that we have to guard closely is our ability to get funding ourselves,” adds Marsden. “It is of course a very cash-consumptive business by definition, and as we grow we need to source the funding for that growth. As an independent factor, one needs to protect that relationship with the funder very carefully. If you lose their confidence, it will have a very damaging effect on the future of the business.”

Both First Capital and Positive have benefited from the strong collaborative experience of their management teams – an issue that presents one of the biggest challenges to sourcing funding for an independent factor. With this in mind, do Marsden and Smith see a new spate of independent factors being launched by similar industry experts?

“I think it depends on the quality of the people who are trying to do it,” states Smith. “I think there is probably less access to funds than there was, and I think that two or three years ago there was probably more of an appetite to support new start-up factors – and you can’t run this sort of business without access to funding. However, I do think the funding would be there if the quality of management was at the right level.

“We’ve been supported fantastically by Lloyds because we have a very experienced management team here,” Smith adds. “I think you would be hard pressed to find another board in the industry with as long an experience in the sector than ours.”

But will the market stay positive for independent factors in the future? “I think so,” states Smith. “What we’re offering isn’t a commodity. It’s a close relationship and a better service and that’s what a lot of people want to see, especially after having bad experiences with the banks.”

“There always have been and always will be business managers who prefer to feel that they are dealing with a factoring company that is part of a bank,” adds Marsden. “But, at the same time there are a lot of small businesses who prefer to do just the opposite and deal with a factor that is not aligned with any clearing bank.”

Article contributed by BCR Factorscan

“Last year we asked the same question and 71% said the same thing. This suggests an improvement in expectations about the ease of raising business finance, it also remains a strikingly high number of businesses that are anticipating problems finding business finance.

“Of those that said they were anticipating problems raising finance, we asked them about their reasons. These were their responses:

• 39% Banks are cutting back
• 29% VAT/tax arrears
• 25% Losing customers
• 5% My provider is becoming increasingly cautious and less flexible
• 2% My credit rating is poor

“This perception of finance not being available from banks is not consistent with our understanding that some of the major banks are struggling to meet the lending targets agreed with the government.

“In addition, all of the reasons given for anticipated problems in raising finance can be overcome via invoice finance. Invoice finance is still freely available, including invoice finance from bank-owed providers, even if a business is losing customers, has tax arrears or has a poor credit history. In fact, invoice finance is often the natural solution in these situations, where more traditional forms of finance such as overdraft or loans may not be available.

“Somehow this message is not getting through to the business population. This highlights the need for a platform to raise the profile of the invoice finance industry. This will enable a change in the perceptions of businesses from an expectation of problems raising finance to the use of invoice finance as a natural solution.”

Glenn Blackman

Article contributed by Glenn Blackman MBA MCIM, Managing Director of Cashflow Acceleration Limited, a specialist invoice finance brokerage. Glenn also writes regarding invoice finance and related matters at http://www.glennblackman.co.uk/