1pm acquires Manchester-based Positive Cashflow Finance Limited
1pm plc, the AIM listed independent specialist provider of finance facilities to the SME sector, announces that it has purchased Positive Cashflow Finance Limited, the Manchester-based factoring and invoice discounting provider.
Positive Cashflow provides invoice finance facilities between £10k and £1m to businesses across a broad range of industries and has over 190 customers, employing 24 staff at offices in Manchester and Birmingham. Its management team, led by David Smith, is highly experienced and well respected within the invoice finance industry and will continue to manage the day to day business within the 1pm Group following its acquisition.
This is the second invoice finance acquisition for 1pm’s recently established commercial finance division within a month and follows the purchase of Gener8 Finance Ltd, based in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in May. Together, they propel 1pm forwards as a significant force within the invoice finance market. The new division, which is headed by Ed Rimmer, previously UK CEO of Bibby Financial Services, is anticipated to be a main driver for growth across the 1pm Group, significantly expanding the product offering to SMEs through a more diversified suite of products. The two businesses provide 1pm with national coverage with Positive Cashflow servicing clients predominantly in the North and Midlands whilst Gener8 serves clients mainly in the South. It will also seek to maximize the numerous cross-selling opportunities already identified across the Group’s other two divisions.
Following this latest acquisition, the commercial finance division is now comparable in size to the Group’s asset finance and loans divisions with approximately £35m of funds advanced against total receivables of c£75m and represents an important and material part of the Group’s growth strategy.
Ed Rimmer, managing director of the commercial finance division, said:
“I am delighted to welcome David and his team into the 1pm plc Group. Positive Cashflow Finance is a well-known name and is well respected within the invoice finance industry, particularly in the North and Midlands, and the business has developed a strong reputation for providing a high level of flexible and personal service to its clients and introducers.
“1pm’s stated objectives for growth include management identifying adjacent business lending products in order to provide a ‘multi-product’ offering to SMEs so that they have a choice of methods to finance their businesses. Commercial finance products in the form of invoice discounting and factoring are an obvious adjacent product to be offered alongside the company’s existing asset finance and business loan products.
“The establishment of the commercial finance division through these two targeted acquisitions represents an important milestone in the ongoing development of the Group as a whole. There will be significant cross-selling opportunities between the commercial finance division and the existing asset finance and business loans divisions as well as opportunities to introduce new clients beyond our current regional focus, providing an excellent platform from which to implement a controlled expansion strategy.”
David Smith, managing director of Positive Cashflow, said:
“We are likewise delighted to join the 1pm plc group. 1pm’s extensive product offering will greatly enhance our ability to continue to provide outstanding service to our existing and future clients as well as offering numerous opportunities to cross-sell our products and services within the enlarged 1pm Group. We are also very pleased to be working alongside Ed Rimmer in helping to take the newly established commercial finance division forward.”
