Skipton Business Finance has announced the opening of a new regional centre in Birmingham and has today pledged £25million of cash to support owner-managed businesses in the Midlands.
The UK’s leading invoice financier has based its new regional centre at Baskerville House, a former civic building in Centenary Square, and will offer facilities ranging from £100k to £3M to Midlands-based owner-managed businesses that sell goods or services to other businesses on standard credit terms.
The £25million fund, backed by parent Skipton Building Society, has been set aside for service, manufacturing and distribution businesses that have felt the brunt of a reduction in borrowings from clearing banks despite government initiatives designed to stimulate lending.
Speaking from their new offices, Greg Bell, Managing Director, commented: “The announcement of a new player in the Midlands corporate finance scene without demonstrating proof of funds to actually lend is a little like announcing the opening of a state-of-the-art retail complex without having any stock to sell.”
“That’s why we’re happy to enter Birmingham and announce that money is available and we intend to advance it... pure and simple, and that we offer a no nonsense approach and a guaranteed decision on any completed new applications within 48 hours of receipt”.
Mr Bell also said that his business share their parent company’s mutual ethos that spans over 150 years.
“Skipton Business Finance is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Skipton Group and shares its parent’s ethos in helping owner managers create wealth and employment, by actively promoting lending in what remains a challenging market.”
Speaking further about how this ethos is transferred into their business model, he continued: “Our credit policy is as much about the people behind the business and the quality of the product or service provided as opposed to concentrating purely on the current financial performance of the applicant.”
The new office will have house both sales and operational functions with industry-expert Robin Peers heading up the operational team and Richard Cole taking the lead on new business.
Mr Bell concluded: “We have an extremely successful track record of helping local businesses raise finance and we remain committed to building our footprint further in this region.”
A subsidiary of the Skipton Group, SBF is a leading independent invoice factoring and invoice discounting provider, offering a range of working capital solutions for businesses with annual sales ranging from new-start to £30m.