Alternative funding solutions for your business
Nick McCafferty, spokesperson for Bibby Financial Services in Northern Ireland, talks to Business First
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orthern Ireland businesses are increasingly responding to the tougher business climate by using innovative and sharper business funding solutions to overcome the many challenges they now face.
Recessionary pressures such as a culture of chronic late payment and a lack of access to credit are making Northern Ireland businesses re‑evaluate traditional forms of funding in favour of alternative options.
Invoice finance is a viable finance solution for those seeking to free up cash to run and grow their business.
Invoice finance is a viable finance solution According to Bibby Financial Services spokesperson Nick McCafferty; “Northern Ireland businesses are now finding alternative solutions to overcome what is widely considered to be a tough lending environment. SMEʼs are encountering an inflexible and negative outlook by those perceived to be mainstream lenders, unwilling to engage with them due to the belief that they are a high risk group.”
Whereas Northern Ireland SMEʼs once relied solely on more traditional sources of funding, they are now looking at alternative options of freeing up cash flow.
“Northern Ireland SMEʼs are embracing the flexibility of alternative forms of funding such as invoice finance. The reality is that invoice finance is one of the most flexible means of gaining access to immediate credit to support cash flow. Bibby Financial Services offers specialist invoice finance and export invoice finance facilities. We have a substantial funding facility in place for Northern Ireland SMEʼs for both domestic and overseas activity and with a 200 year old history we are well positioned to work with SMEʼs now and going forward,” said Mr McCafferty.
Straightforward criteria and quick decisions While many traditional financial institutions remain elusive, Bibby Financial Services has straightforward criteria when reviewing applications. Decisions are made quickly and are based on sales rather than company history. In addition, Bibby Financial Services offers a comprehensive credit management facility a considerable plus when SMEʼs continue to endure a culture of late payment. “We help businesses by offering a comprehensive credit management facility chasing and collecting customer payments on our clients behalf for both domestic and overseas invoices. We work closely with our clients, tailoring our service to meet their specific needs so that they are in a better position to run and grow their business.” said Mr McCafferty.
Research carried out on behalf of Bibby Financial Services shows that approximately 20 per cent of companies are chasing invoices on an average of three times or more with many businesses reporting having to follow up on invoices more than 11 times. In such a trading environment it is no wonder Northern Ireland businesses are hesitant about pursuing business overseas. However, export activity is central to economic recovery. “Northern Ireland businesses are arguably more than ever, looking into the practicalities of trading overseas. We have found a renewed level of interest in our export invoice finance service and the level of
assistance Bibby Financial Services can provide to Northern Ireland businesses either currently exporting or with plans to export in the future.” said Mr McCafferty.
Export Invoice Finance solutions
Bibby Financial Services is well positioned to offer Export Invoice Finance solutions, with offices based around the world on the ground assistance is at hand. The service is straightforward and flexible and allows Northern Ireland businesses to export abroad with confidence that their cash flow requirements will be met and customer payments chased and collected on their behalf. Export invoice finance is a viable cash flow option for businesses looking to build on or commence exporting overseas.
About Export Invoice Finance
Nick McCafferty explains five benefits for businesses considering export invoice finance as a means of funding overseas business activity:
Improve your cash flow
Export Invoice Finance boosts your cash flow by providing an immediate and ongoing injection of cash into your business against the value of your outstanding overseas invoices. Each time you raise an invoice Bibby Financial Services will release a percentage of its value within 24 hours. The remaining balance, less a small fee will be credited to your facility once your customer has settled the invoice payment in full. This provides both an immediate and ongoing supply of cash linked to your sales, so as your business grows so does the amount of funding available to you.
Specialist Credit Control
Our team of highly skilled credit controllers will chase and collect outstanding invoice payments on your behalf, as well as maintaining up‑to‑date sales ledger information, administration and control. With access to multilingual teams we will always endeavour to contact your customers, whether verbal or written, in the appropriate language.
As part of a global network, Bibby Financial Services has companies in countries throughout the world and we can use their experience and knowledge of the local market to assist us when collecting customer payments.
Dealing with different Currencies As part of our complete package of Export Invoice Finance services we can even help you avoid the uncertainty of fluctuating exchange rates with our specialist currency facilities, so if you need to invoice your customers in different currencies we can help.
Credit Checks
We can also perform online credit searches on your behalf, so if you would like to establish a global rating on either a new or existing customer we have the facilities to undertake these searches and provide credit ratings on your behalf.
Stay in control of your finances To help you stay in control of your customer accounts we can also provide access to our fast, secure and easy to use online system which provides 24 hour access to your account information, enabling you to keep track of customer payments received and the amount of funding available to you. For more information visit
www.bibbyfinancialservices.com or call 0800 91 95 92
www.businessfirstonline.co.uk
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