CBI: 50 YEARS OF BUSINESS INNOVATION | BRITAIN AND BEYOND
THE CAPITAL IDEA BEHIND A TRADE REVOLUTION
TRADE FINANCE PARTNERS
www.tradefinpartners.com
is about working capital. It doesn’t matter how good a management team you have or how wonderful your product is – if you can’t fund your business, it isn’t going to happen.” This became even more apparent during the economic crash of 2008, so Tebbit and Ash established TFP, persuading Macquarie Bank and others to back them. Today, TFP is a successful trading house.
“We have systems in place to make transactions work,” says Tebbit. “We know about buying and selling goods, moving them around the world, duty rates, shipping, logistics – the whole thing.”
When Swiss Grill, a family business that manufactures and imports barbecues from China, received a large order from John Lewis, the owners should have jumped for joy. Instead, they faced sleepless nights wondering how they would fund the supply chain. This is a common story for many companies that either source or manufacture goods overseas to meet
their orders. They frequently need pre-shipment funding that banks won’t provide without security. Launched in 2010, Trade Finance Partners
(TFP) is different. Independent and specialised, it offers a progressive yet traditional merchant banking model. “A bank will give you cash against existing assets, but we will fund money against confirmed purchase orders,” explains William Tebbit, Commercial Director. “For many businesses, that’s alchemy.”
THE BUSINESS OF BUSINESS TFP was the brainchild of Chris Ash, a trade finance specialist, and William Tebbit, the son of British politician Norman Tebbit (former Secretary of State for both Employment and Trade and Industry). William started out as a stockbroker, working on corporate finance, and mergers and acquisitions. “I always loved business,” he says. In the
1990s, Tebbit left the City to run businesses in Ireland and the Middle East. “It was my chance to go out into the real world,” he says. “It was then that I realised that everything in business
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THE THREE STAGES OF FUNDING “There are three fundamental stages to what we do,” says Tebbit. “We buy the products from the supplier against a confirmed purchase order. We ensure that goods are shipped and delivered to the customer. And we collect the money from the buyer. If we manage the process well, it’s relatively low-risk for us and of massive value to our clients. In fact, had we not funded them, I don’t believe that any of the businesses we work with would have been able to complete these transactions. That’s kept many people in employment, who will pay their national insurance and their income tax, and so generate revenue for UK plc.” In the early days of TFP, Snapz was a good
example. Initially receiving finance from the TV programme Dragon’s Den, the company, which sells apple crisps, needed cash flow to meet a considerable new order from the USA. TFP provided a $2 million solution, resulting in 41 containers being bought and delivered. “You need an odd set of skills in this
business,” says Tebbit. “Ideally, you should have run a business and gone through the day-to-day pain of that. You’ve got to understand reasonably sophisticated finance and trade law, too. You also have to be cynical and able to access capital from the finance world. I love it – I think it’s such a great business. We’re not the solution for everybody, but for many we’re absolute gold dust.” Just ask Swiss Grill. Using TFP funding,
the company was able to place its order for John Lewis, import it to the UK and sell it on. Business is thriving – and the owners can sleep soundly once more.
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