CFI: Commercial
The prognosis according to by
Award winning Commercial Mortgages.
Rob Lankey, managing director, Commercial Mortgages, Aldermore
Te commercial mortgage market is wholly dependent on business owners’ levels of confidence about the future. If there is a sense of optimism then businesses are more likely to invest in commer- cial property. If confidence remains at rock bottom, then any hopes of an upturn are likely to remain a pipe dream. Te problem in trying to as-
aldermore.co.uk/intermediaries
sess confidence is that there are so many contradictory reports. We therefore decided at Aldermore to conduct our own research over the sum- mer months to establish for ourselves precisely what own- ers of small and medium sized businesses are really thinking.
Country-wide view Te research involved 300 SMEs located across the coun- try. Firms had up to 250 staff and were active in a broad range of market sectors in- cluding manufacturing, ser- vices, wholesale and distribu- tion, technology, printing and publishing and so represented very typical SMEs. We started by asking busi-
FOR INTERMEDIARY USE ONLY - Aldermore Bank PLC is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority for deposit taking and regulated mortgages. Registered Office: 1st Floor, Block B, Western House, Lynch Wood, Peterborough PE2 6FZ. Registered in England no. 947662
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ness owners for their views about the current state of the economy. Perhaps unsurpris- ingly just over half said the economy hasn’t changed from last year with nearly a third saying the situation is worse than it was in 2011. Only 14% thought the economy was starting to show the first signs of recovery. I’m sure most bro- kers would echo these senti-
42 MORTGAGE INTRODUCER OCTOBER 2012
ments. However, just over half of
respondents said that despite the lack-lustre economy, they nonetheless expect their busi- nesses to achieve either mod- est or significant growth dur- ing the year ahead. 38% expect their
business performance
next year to remain roughly the same as this year, with 7% anticipating any sort of con- traction. Although the econo- my is downbeat, the majority of business owners are not.
Late payments We were interested to find out if late payment is still a drain on British businesses and, re- grettably, it appears that it is. 52% of respondents said that the length of time it takes cus- tomers to pay has not changed, but nearly 40% reported an in- crease in invoices being paid late. Late payments are clearly holding back small businesses and it was therefore surpris- ing to discover that nearly two thirds of all respondents were unaware of the European Late Payment Directive which is due to be introduced in March next year.
Financial advice We then focused more specifi- cally on finance and started by asking whom business owners turned to for financial advice. Accountants were the first port of call for 43% of business owners, with bank managers being the preferred choice for 32% of respondents. 8% said they would seek advice from a financial adviser and the remainder said they would consult someone within the business such as the company director or a parent company or head office specialist.
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Bank. British
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