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Book now to attend the biggest Commercial Finance Expo of the year

NACFB Commercial Finance Expo – stands sell out

All 120 exhibitor stands are now sold ahead of the NACFB’s Commercial Finance Expo (CFE) on 15 June.

Our Commercial Finance Expo is a clear demonstration of the power of lending. The newest, most established and most innovative lenders to the SME community will be gathered under a single roof, in the centre of England, at the Birmingham NEC.

This one-of-a-kind event showcases the amount of funding that is actually available to businesses right across the country.

The NACFB has been working to expand the floor space to accommodate demand – by midday last year we had 1700 confirmed attendees and the number is set to grow this year. There are now 140 lenders registered with the NACFB for the first time in the Association’s history.

We will be filling both the Pavilion hall and the Conference Theatre. As every year, this event is open to anyone with an interest in Commercial Finance.

Doors for this biggest industry event of the year open at 9:30am on 15 June. It’s a free event where deals get done and genuinely useful contacts get made and it’s also a lot of fun.

Interested delegates should register online at www.commercialfinanceexpo.co.uk

Virtual platform cuts HSBC business loan application and approval times in half

HSBC has introduced an online platform that transforms the way customers apply for a business loan; halving the time it takes to gain access to new funding to grow their business.

The service – HSBC LinkScreen – takes a unique approach to lending applications by providing customers with all the key elements of a traditional face-to-face meeting but from the comfort and convenience of their own home or office.

HSBC is the first major UK bank to launch the platform for business customers, providing the ability to share, download, electronically sign and send loan documents through a secure shared-screen online platform. During the process, customers will also be speaking with a HSBC representative over the phone as they complete their application at the same time.

The platform significantly reduces the amount of time it takes for customers to drawdown funds. In some instances, customers can complete an entire lending application and gain access to funds the next business day, while average application times have been cut in half.

HSBC has also made significant improvements to its online account opening process through the introduction of an online portal that allows new customers to digitally verify their identities. The service has been introduced to meet customer demand. In 2015, almost half of all new HSBC business accounts were opened online, compared to just 10% in 2013.

Richard Davies, HSBC’s chief operating officer for UK Commercial Banking, said:

“Expectations of banks are rapidly changing, and we understand that we must adapt. The reality is customers demand faster and simpler access to their banking services, when and how they want.

“The launch of HSBC LinkScreen and the online identification portal are just two examples of the technology we’re introducing to better service our customers, accelerating the speed in which applications are processed so that businesses can spend more time focusing on what is most important – growing their business.”

LinkScreen is a completely new experience for HSBC business banking customers, removing outdated and time-consuming measures such as documents and contracts being sent through the post, or customers being required to visit a branch to sign paperwork or verify their identities. They can now complete an entire loan application securely online, while still having that human interaction by speaking directly with a HSBC representative.

The response from customers has been overwhelmingly positive with 94 per cent of customers very satisfied with the LinkScreen service since launch.

The use of HSBC LinkScreen and the online identification portal are optional services for business customers. HSBC offers a range of options for business customers to apply for a loan or open an account, including at a branch, over the telephone or through digital methods such as internet and mobile banking.

A changing landscape – digital and online customer behaviours
Business customer attitudes and behaviours towards digital services are rapidly changing. The use of digital and online channels continues to increase as businesses embrace new technologies and ways of working. At HSBC, we’re making a significant investment in ensuring our products and services meet these evolving customer needs, so that we are able to deliver a superior overall experience.

– Opening an account: Almost half of all new HSBC Business Current Accounts are opened online, compared to just 10% in 2013
– Bill payments: HSBC processes more than 500,000 bill payments online for businesses each month
– Internet banking: Two out of every three customers use Business Internet Banking each month
– Mobile banking: HSBC Business Mobile Banking logins reach 500,000 each month, a 250% increase over the past two years (200,000 in 2013)
– Online advice: Each month, HSBC’s online business virtual assistant, Ask Andrew,answers more than 70,000 individual questions from customers. An additional 20,000 live web-chats also take place online per month.

UK200Group Members explore the decline of productivity in the UK

Members of the UK200Group of independent accountancy and law firms have commented on new research which shows productivity is a major issue in UK businesses.

A new study by the Smith Institute has found UK employees are spending longer at work for little or no gain in productivity.

The UK think tank revealed that two-thirds of employees say they are working longer than two years ago, but only 10% believe they are more productive. A quarter of staff believed their productivity had declined over the period.

Average output per hour is already around a fifth higher in the rest of the G7 nations compared with the UK.

Jonathan Russell, partner at UK200Group member firm ReesRussell, said:

“The Western World has created a culture not about productivity, but about the appearance of hard work and dedication, which has distilled down to employees being early to start and late to leave.

“This coupled with the slowdown in the economy has created a culture of appearing to be busy, even when there is no work, which is encouraged by employers who are worried about the availability of staff and their ability retain employees over the quieter times.

“This has created a vicious circle and will take some time to change back. Staff need to feel valued and secure in their jobs so they can dispel the fear that if they have no work to do their jobs will be on the line.

“Many employers, and certainly the wise ones, will reward the improved productivity as that results in improved profits, but employers have seen productivity slipping and margins reducing, which ultimately puts pay under pressure.

“The creation of simple, achievable and rewarding production targets is the way forward for smaller businesses, which reward the entire workforce so as to create a team effort – easily said, but often harder to achieve.”

Duncan Montgomery, tax partner at UK200Group member firm Whittingham Riddell, said:

“Motivation comes from the leadership of a business and for SMEs with the right tools to incentivise management, much more can be achieved.

“A positive management team can drive the business forward, using smart reward systems, be it a menu of choices around extended holidays for some, or birthdays off, or share options and tax free incentives, an SME can change to a more driven culture with a few simple changes.”

Ultimate Finance’s new offices make £60m pledge to SMEs to mark first anniversaries

The Glasgow and Leeds offices of Ultimate Finance have committed £30m each, over the next 12 months, to help SMEs in their region which are being held back through lack of funding.

The pledge follows a successful 12 months for the asset-based lender, which opened both offices at the beginning of last year.

Both have grown considerably since then, with fifteen experienced personnel, with expertise in invoice, construction and asset finance, now operating across the Leeds and Glasgow offices.

As a result of the ongoing success, additional sales personnel, client managers and support staff, including those with trade finance expertise, are being recruited.

Commenting on the £60m pledge, Richard Waldman who heads up the Northern teams, said:

“Through our six offices across the UK we are regularly introduced to successful businesses who are frustrated their growth is being hampered by cashflow constraints.

“They want to take on new contracts and increase orders with their existing customers, but as they can wait 90 days or more for their invoices to be paid, they don’t have the cash available to do so.

“They have tried borrowing money through traditional routes but are still finding banks reluctant to lend. We are therefore seeing more SMEs using invoice and asset finance as it enables them to have their invoices paid the next day.

“This is backed up by the latest findings for quarter three by the Asset-Based Finance Association. It has calculated that funding to UK and Irish businesses, secured against invoices and other assets, has reached £20bn for the first time ever; an increase of 4% on the same time last year.

“SMEs are now recognising they have earned the money by providing goods or services, so why can’t they have the money now rather than having to wait months for it.

“There are so many successful and growing SMEs which are being held back because of the short-sighted approach of lenders. It is our aim therefore to work closely with companies with a turnover of up to £50m to whom we can provide as much as £5m funding in order to provide a flexible solution to their cashflow problems.

“From a standing start a year ago we have ‘hit the ground running’ by building teams in Leeds and Glasgow with unrivalled expertise.

“We quickly entered the market and because we are able to turn deals around quickly we have taken many of our competitors by surprise. This has resulted in us comfortably beating all the targets each office was set for its first year.”

Photo caption: Ultimate Finance Leeds (left to right) Michael Beer, Richard Waldman, Emma Booth, Hollie France, Michelle Hoole, Adam Myers and Noel Haverly

ABL deal helps kick start Amicus Commercial Finance

Guildford-based Amicus Commercial Finance has secured an asset-based Lending (ABL) facility from Royal Bank of Scotland’s asset-based lending team to support the new start up’s entry into the SME finance market.

Amicus Finance Plc, a leading specialist lender has launched Amicus Commercial Finance to serve the small business and professional services communities. It will focus on providing relationship-based, cash flow solutions to owner-managed businesses with annual sales of between £0.5m and £5m.

The company is led by two highly experienced and proven market specialists, John Wilde and David Hogg. The duo built SME Invoice Finance Limited (SMEIF) from start-up in 2000 to a national firm employing 80 staff, serving a 600-strong customer base and generating annual revenues of £12m at the time of its sale to a challenger bank in July 2013.

Royal Bank of Scotland’s ABL team has structured an ABL facility to support the launch and growth of Amicus Commercial Finance. The availability of working capital is an issue faced by most UK businesses and ABL is a cost-effective and flexible alternative for companies to access working capital. It liberates the cash held within physical company assets, such as inventory, plant and machinery, and property, thereby giving fast access to substantial sums of working capital.

John Jenkins, CEO of Amicus Finance plc said:

“The launch of Amicus Commercial Finance underlines our strategy of broadening our proposition into other specialist lending markets. We are delighted that John and David will be leading this business. As two of the most experienced and successful leaders in this sector they have the skills, contacts and vision to build a business that will set a new benchmark in this sector.”

John Wilde, Amicus Commercial Finance said:

“In Amicus we have found the ideal partner with whom we can build a new proposition designed specifically around small businesses’ cash flow financing requirements. We believe that the market will welcome a fresh approach from a commercial finance provider that is able to combine the strengths of a relationship-driven service with technology-based processing power. The support from the Royal Bank of Scotland team has been essential in providing the required capital investment to kick start the business.”

Martin King, corporate business development director, Royal Bank of Scotland ABL said:

“We are delighted to be working with Amicus and supporting their extremely strong management team of John Wilde and David Hogg who are well known in the finance industry. This deal is a great example of how we can support finance companies with funding requirements and to assist the launch of Amicus Commercial Finance into the UK’s SME market place.”

Government-backed loans less attractive

Members of the UK200Group of independent accountancy and law firms have commented on the decline in the uptake for government backed-loans.

Small business lending via the Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) loan scheme has continued to drop in the last year with only 1,835 UK small firms granted EFG loans in 2015, compared to a peak of 2,030 loans in the second quarter of 2009.

The EFG scheme sees the government act as a partial guarantor on up to 75% of bank loans between £1,000 and £1.2m made to small businesses who cannot offer assets as security.

Despite its dwindling success the chancellor has confirmed the EFG will be extended until 2018.

Duncan Montgomery, tax partner at UK200Group member firm Whittingham Riddell, said:

“The EFG scheme has served a good purpose, but SMEs tend to look for regular financing first, which is frequently on competitive terms. Particularly if you think that each SME already has a banking relationship, and that those banks have very effective sales arms, the government scheme works on the edges a little more, and as the economy picks up there will be less need for such guarantees.

“With consistent GDP growth since 2012, the economy is showing good, if tentative signs, and many businesses are moving firmly ahead.

“However, it is important that SMEs regularly review their current financial packages, to ensure that bank security is reduced where loans are paid off, so as to free up assets for any future borrowings. Too many small businesses leave charges outstanding when they could be cleared down.”

Jonathan Russell, partner at UK200Group member firm ReesRussell, said:

“Whilst small firms generally are less interested in borrowing, the terms of the Government guaranteed loans were changed to make them significantly less attractive to businesses and professional advice was very much that these loans were only suitable for individuals who had absolutely no assets, who would not even get over the initial hurdles with the banks.”

Scottish Pacific Tradeline helps biomass business steam ahead with a £100k facility

This renewable business specialises in the design, supply, installation and servicing of speciality energy saving biomass boilers.

The client was introduced to Scottish Pacific via a Broker when they required urgent funding for payment of a boiler being imported from the US, a facility of £100k.

They had secured funding by means of an asset finance sale and leaseback contract when the order was originally placed some months earlier, however, the asset finance company would only release funds to pay for the goods once they arrived in the UK.

As the supplier’s deadline drew closer, the client remained unsuccessful in securing the funding required to enable the goods to be released.

Scottish Pacific Tradeline was able to liaise with the client, the asset finance company and the US supplier to offer assurance that payment would be made, which in turn allowed the goods to be shipped.

The client was close to losing the contract and our ability to provide an immediate solution within a tight timeframe resulted in a successful outcome.

Scottish Pacific Tradeline is a flexible and effective alternative to traditional trade finance and provides purchasing power for a wide range of businesses.

UK growth data due this week

A market update from Carl Hasty, director of Smart Currency Business.

A mixed end to the week for sterling saw it hit a fresh 15-month low against the euro before recovering slightly in the afternoon to rise from these levels, giving sterling investors some hope heading into a new week.

With the Easter bank holiday weekend resulting in reduced trading volumes, sterling has seen a slight boost at start to the week. No significant economic data releases are expected until later in the week, with the latest current account released on Thursday. Confirmation of final economic growth throughout the UK over the past quarter will follow shortly after, although this is likely to have a reduced impact due to earlier estimates. Finally, Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data from the manufacturing industry will provide the first indication of sector growth throughout March, with further figures following next week.

Eurozone consumer confidence data due this week
The euro had a mixed week last week, strengthening significantly against sterling as it pushed to its highest point in 15 months on Thursday. This was for the same reasons as before, with the uncertainty over Britain’s future in the European Union continuing to pressure sterling. However, the single currency performed relatively badly against the US dollar, after worse-than-expected data came out of the Eurozone, which worked against the single currency.

As it was a bank holiday last Friday and yesterday in the UK, liquidity was low in the market so we may well have seen some fluctuations on Monday. It is a quiet start to the week in terms of Eurozone economic data, until Wednesday, when consumer confidence figures are due. Thursday will bring German unemployment figures.

Data releases could affect US dollar
We can expect a host of data releases for the US this week. Personal spending and personal income data were released yesterday, followed by consumer confidence on today. The major release for this week will be the non-farm employment change on Friday. With this in mind, various related indications are released on Wednesday and Thursday. Given the amount of data out this week, there is plenty of opportunity for movement in US dollar markets.

Worldwide currencies looking towards US growth data
Matters outside of the UK, eurozone and US were muted on Thursday, given the bank holidays in both New Zealand and Australia. In Japan, Tokyo’s price index was forecast to come up shorter than previously, potentially resulting in weakness for the Japanese yen. Reactions in the market are likely to be soft, given that most traders will be enjoying their holidays and any change in the market will have been priced into the market already.

Markets will remain flat on Friday unless the US final growth data throws any surprises that could affect its peers. Other than that, the Bank of Japan will release its Core inflation data, with the expected outcome to remain the same as the previous month’s.

New help for private tenants to access better finance

Private tenants are signing up to be among the first in the UK to strengthen their credit histories by paying rent on time.

A joint initiative between Experian and private tenants’ rent management company Credit Ladder will help people to get similar credit benefits to those enjoyed by homeowners paying off mortgages.

The scheme is free to participate in and will benefit tenants and landlords. Rental payment information will begin building people’s credit history from the point they sign up, before the data appears on Experian credit reports later in 2016.

Asa Bentley from Credit Ladder said:

“There are millions of private renters who pay their rent on time each month but don’t get the recognition they deserve on their credit report. We’re working with Experian to help private tenants, who are often working towards buying a home of their own, to build their credit histories so they are in the best possible to shape to get a mortgage.”

Tenants can make their regular rental payments through the Credit Ladder portal, and this will be passed on to landlords and letting agents, and then fed directly into Experian’s Rental Exchange. Tenants with a history of little or no credit can then build a more positive credit score and gain access to mainstream, cheaper credit.

Recent Experian research among almost 1,500 private renters showed three-quarters (76%) agreed they would like their rental payments to contribute to their credit report.

Experian’s Jonathan Westley said:

“We’re delighted to work with Credit Ladder to be able to offer private renters the opportunity to build their credit histories just by paying their rent. Our research shows there is an appetite among this group to be treated in the same way as mortgage holders and so we hope many more landlords and letting agents will sign up to the Rental Exchange in the future.”

For further information about the Rental Exchange or to get involved, please visit: experian.co.uk/rental-exchange