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Stories Tagged ‘Invoice Factoring Company’

03 Sep

Santander Invoice Finance »

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Santander Invoice Finance is obviously the invoice finance arm of Santander Bank. Unfortunately they are not a company that I will be recommending at this stage.

Having rebranded their banks under one banner they bought the small independent invoice finance company called Liquidity and rebranded as Santander Invoice Finance. At the time this raised a few eyebrows and was seen as dipping their toe in the water by many.

I have had a few dealings with Liquidity and unfortunately they were not good ones. The feedback from clients was poor and their communication was equally poor. This poor communication was a criticism of clients and something that I experienced personally along with an air of arrogance.

However, I did have hopes for the business under the Santander banner. They have recruited new sales staff some of whom I know personally and are well respected in the industry. There is plenty of room for another bank owned invoice finance company and I was keen to see what they had to offer. I was hoping for a well funded lender with a flexible approach and a quick turnaround. Unfortunately, I discovered it was business as usual with miscommunication and a poor understanding of what they could and couldn’t do.

I approached them on behalf of a client looking for a £2m invoice discounting facility. I was assured early in the process that they wanted to support the proposal and they did a survey at the clients premises. While a few issues were highlighted they remained supportive and confirmed to me on a friday that the deal was underwritten and a formal offer letter would be produced the following tuesday as monday was a bank holiday. A job well done – or so I thought. No offer letter was sent on Tuesday and late that night I was informed that the deal had actually been declined. In fairness this decision was appealed and Santander Invoice Finance did make an offer but it was vastly different to the original offer and required that the client inject his own funds into the business and provide a personnal guarantee for £300,000. This was simply not feasible and I sense they knew that.

The consequence was that the business was potentially left without a funder as their existing lender no longer wanted to support them as they didn’t like the sector.

I accept that these things can happen but unfortunately I sense that little has changed at this invoice finance business even though the Liquidity name has been dropped and the big brand banner of the world 8th largest bank (by market cap) was attached to it. I am sure that things will improve at Santander Invoice Finance and I feel that the invoice finance market will be better for it. However, my personal opinion is that I wouldn’t want to be a Santander Invoice Finance customer just yet.  The new structure is still being tweaked and the new staff are settling in and trying to learn the processes or hopefully develop processes. As such I feel that the planned growth will mean turbulent times are ahead and until things settle down I feel that there are other lenders who can offer the same facilities from a more stable base.

I feel that there are some quality independent invoice factoring companies who will provide a better service level and a more robust sales process at this stage. The other high street banks have some good invoice finance offerings also but as always it is important you select the best lender to suit your business and it’s needs.

I certainly won’t be recommending Santander Invoice Finance to any businesses in the near future.

03 Sep

Partnership Finance – Good Feedback »

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I recently met Philip Padgham on a corporate day with a firm of accountants. Various people were singing his praises and a contact of mine asked if I would try using his invoice finance company Partnership Finance.

I had a chat with Phil who explained that as a finance company they were fast moving and decisive. They also claim to offer an excellent level of service. Yes, I had heard it all before but as it happened I had a client who had been let down at the last minute by Absolute Finance. (Strangly Absolute Finance had taken 2 months to decline a deal based on information they had been aware of on day 1.)

Anyway, I presented the opportunity to Phil and he visited them the very next day which was a friday. They then surveyed the deal on the Monday and approved the deal by credit committee on the Wednesday. The client is delighted. I am impressed. From first visit, through to survey and then on to formal approval by credit committee in 4 working days is fantastic.

A big ‘thumbs up’ for Phil Padgham and his colleagues at Partnership Finance.

31 Aug

Aldermore Invoice Finance »

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Aldermore Invoice Finance was announced today as the new name for Absolute Invoice Finance that was previously Cattles Invoice Finance. While not a new invoice factoring company it is now part of a bank which can offer asset finance and commercial mortgages.

Aldermore Bank is described as ‘the new British bank’ and was formed by the merger of Ruffler Bank Plc and Base Commercial Mortgages. It is wholly owned by a private equity firm AnaCap Financial Partners Plc and it targeting savers by offering attractive rates and SME’s through asset backed lending.

Personally I have never been sure about Cattles and more recently Absolute Invoice Finance mainly due to pricing, credit appetite and having been let down a few times recently. They are assuring everyone of the same level of service so I am not sure that is a good thing.

That said, alongside invoice factoring and invoice discounting they have asset finance capabilities and offer both residential and commercial mortgages and may be the best lender for some clients. They can certainly look at more asset classes than most of the independent invoice finance providers. They are also claiming to be very liquid and open for business so it will be interesting to see how things progress.

I wish them well and hope that things do improve. It is always good to see lenders develop new capabilities and bring new offering to SME’s.

If you are looking for an invoice finance facility and want to know what options are available to you contact Smart Factoring Quotes today.

24 Aug

Factoring in Ireland »

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Factoring in Ireland has become increasingly difficult in recent years as the economy and banking industry in particular has been hit hard.

Arguably when companies require cash flow facilities the most the Irish banks have not been in a position to help except in the most straight forward of cases.

There are however, several invoice factoring companies in Ireland who have stepped in to fill this void. As such Smart Factoring Quotes Ireland was set up to help Irish businesses find the lender best suited to meet their needs.

17 Aug

Why does invoice finance take so long to set up? »

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Invoice Factoring Company – Why does it take so long to set up a facility?

In short it shouldn’t.

The process should in theory be fairly simple for most businesses. The key is to finding lenders that have an appetite for your business in terms of size, sector and geography. From there the key is providing total transparency.

The process will usually start with a first visit by a sales person from the lender. They should assess your suitability and issue you with terms. This is a key stage as if they don’t address potential issues early on you could be going a long way down a road that will not have a positive conclusion.

If you accept the terms the lender will conduct a pre lend survey which is a mini audit focusing on your processes surrounding invoicing and collecting in debts.

If this goes well a final offer will be issued to you and legal documentation signed. If there are any questions you may be asked for further information.

The final step is usually the verification of your sales ledger and perhaps a reference from your existing invoice finance provider if you have one.

All in all the process can comfortably be done within 3 weeks with most lenders. I have seen deals done within a week where necessary.

So where do delays occur when setting up an invoice finance facility?

It is important to remember that you as a prospect will have a lot to do in this process and a lot of information to provide. This can use up a lot of time as an invoice factoring company will be waiting on you.

Sometimes if information is not disclosed from the outset or the sales person does not ask the right questions the facility can fall down at the later stages meaning the process starts again with another lender.

To ensure things go smoothly divulge anything you feel is relevant at the outset. If the sales person has not demonstrated a good understanding of your business how can they hope to convince their credit team you deserve a facility. If they do not give you confidence move on to another lender. Provide information in a timely fashion – this saves times but also instills confidence.

If you have any doubts it is worth using a reputable invoice finance broker.

16 Aug

Aston Rothbury acquired by Bibby »

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Bibby Financial Services have acquired the book of invoice factoring company Aston Rothbury. It is understood that Bibby have absorbed this book into their very successful office in Hastings.

In terms of client numbers we have heard that it was only 40 clients.

The same Bibby office also acquired the Arbuthnot office last year but some of the staff have since left and set up Innovation Finance.

16 Aug

The New Arrivals »

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We have seen a fair amount of consolidation in the invoice finance market over the last few years and some lenders have left the market for good.

However, in recent years we have seen some new lenders enter the market and I wish them well. Personally I think there is always room for lenders who want to provide a good service to clients and if their ‘positioning’ is niche in anyway I think it is fantastic.

Gener8 Finance seem to have been well accepted and client numbers have swelled. They are targeting the smaller end of the market with a view of providing invoice discounting facilities with flat fee structures to smaller companies who normally only attract factoring offers. I am not sure they are actually offering traditional confidential invoice discounting facilities in the majority of instances but clients are signing up so they are doing something right.

Bob Crumbley who was at London Scottish has set up a company called Team Factors with John Schulman who was at Coface. I have seen very little PR about the company but understand they they are also looking at providing good old fashioned factoring services with good service levels to small businesses. I am not sure how they are fairing but wish them every success.

We have also seen the team who were absorbed by Bibby when they bought Arbuthnot set up again on their own as Innovation Finance. It is very early days and by their own admission they are still finding their feet but I will be watching their progress with interest. Again I wish them every success.

16 Aug

The Long ‘No’ »

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In dealing with various businesses and lenders as an invoice finance broker the biggest frustration is when a lender takes a long time to say ‘no’.

In my position as a broker I always aim to manage any clients expectations in terms of what can be reallistically achieved in the market given their particular circumstances. In dealing with any lender I try and highlight any issues upfront so that our energies can be focussed on mitigating the risks associated with those issues. My aim in doing this is to be honest and maintain a solid reputation but also to avoid any last minute issues. If a lender discovers the deal they have been looking at for the last 6 weeks is not what they thought because of some ‘skeleton in the closet’ then it will come as no suprise that they may change or retract their original offer.

The flip side of this is when a lender is provided full information on day one and the risks have clearly being highlighted to them. Yet after 2 months of visits and negotiations they say ‘no’ and the reason given is what was flagged into them in the first instance. This is frustrating for the broker such as myself but for the business concerned can be catostrophic.

In the most recent instance of this kind I had a client who had breached a facility with the invoice finance arm of a major bank. There had been a number of fairly minor breaches over a 5 month period and as such the lender had given the client 3 months notice to find an alternaitive funder. I approached an independent lender and flagged in the issues asking at the end of my email, “Given these breaches could you assist?”. The lender assured me they still had an appetite to assist and that their credit team were on board. They went to various meeting and chased the prospect for a decision until he finally accepted their terms. A full pre lend survey was done a month into this process and the feedback was that the survey had gone well. However another month further down the line and only when I phoned for an update was I told the facility had been declined. ‘Why?’, I asked. ‘The client has breached his facility with the existing provider’, was the response. In instances like that you have to laugh or you would cry. However, the implication for the client was that in less than a month the existing provider would be looking for full repayment and as such his business was at risk. The lender concerned made apologies and moved on to tell another broker how their ‘national, local and personal’ presence is best for their clients. I have to say I disagree. This has only happened to me twice this year and both times, despite having the assurances of senior people, this same lender have dropped out at the last minute after a protracted process and have declined the deal based on something they were aware of on day one. The lender concerned will not be dealing with any introductions from me going forward having shown it is not an issue with individuals or regions but a company wide problem.

I am writing this to share an experience so that clients don’t make the same mistake. So how do you ensure this doesn’t happen to you? In time critical situations like the one I have described I think it is important to run at least 2 invoice finance companies in tandem through the application process. Be totally upfront with them from the outset and highlight any risks to them. This way they can look to structure a facility that meets your needs but also mitigates their concerns over risks. The time in working with 2 lenders until you have credit backed offers will be repaid in peace of mind and in ensuring you are not back at square one should a lender decide they no longer have an appetite to assist you.

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