There seems to be a trend for businesses to be investing in digital print technology. We are seeing many traditional litho businesses investing in digital equipment which will enable them to produce high quality short run work at a competitive price. We are also seeing many businesses bringing their print requirements  in house and investing in digital printing equipment which seems to have come of age in terms of quality and cost. For many businesses the investment is a no brainer in terms of the investment paying for itself however obtaining the necessary funding can prove a challenge for many businesses. This article may help you understand as to what is achievable in terms of finance.

XL Business Finance has been helping businesses with business finance for over ten years. Whether it be finance lease or hire purchase we can structure the application in order for you to get the best chance of success. The problem is that all finance companies will view digital kit as unsecured lending and therefore the business must have a very strong balance sheet, be trading for more than 3 years and be profitable. If finance is not forthcoming with a prime lender then a business may find themselves caught between a rock and a hard stone. The business isn’t strong enough for a prime or high street finance company however the other sort of finance company is an asset based lender which will view the kit as have no security and as such will not provide funding. There are a number of sales aid finance companies which specialise in financing this sort of kit however they all require personal guarantees and they will only lend a max of £10k per director. For obvious reasons most directors don’t like to provide guarantees but for many businesses this may be the only option.

If your business is planning to make a capital investment that will reduce carbon emissions, waste or water consumption than your business may be eligible for a grant. The project must contribute to reducing CO2 emmissions  and generate wider environmental benefits.  XL Business Finance has teamed up with a firm of  local accountants that specialise in obtaining grants and business funding. Experience shows that if a specialise company apply on your behalf you have a much greater chance of success. Combined with equipment finance from XL Business Finance a project that otherwise may have been out or reach suddenly becomes a possibility.

There are however a number of criteria. Projects that have already started will not be eligible  and cannot be funded. The minimum capital expenditure spend must be at least £20,000 There are also a number of restrictions to the grants which include production of synthetic fibres, textiles and clothing, shipbuilding, coal and steel, agriculture, food processing, banking ( bankers don’t deserve any money in any case), insurance , education, local social welfare. In addition all other possibilities of funding must have been exhausted included bank loans and EFG funding. So long as the project is either for  water usage, energy generation and control, recycling, information technology, transport or waste reduction then it is worth giving us a call.

If you are looking to raise cash quickly  we can now offer a short term funding solution using your car as security. If you have a luxury car free of finance , you can release the moneytied up in your vehicle on a short term basis. The cash can be used for any purpose, e.g a deposit on a house or to ease a short term cash flow problem. During the term of the loan the car would be stored in a secure facility and would be delivered back to your door when the loan is repaid. The interest rate will vary depending on the individuals credit worthiness .

Although the interest rates on this might be quite high at circa 4% per months this will provide many individuals and businesses a life line. If you consider it  is very difficult to obtain refinance against a luxury vehicle and the min period is usually two years the flexibility that this product offers may actually prove quite good value. It doesn’t matter how bad the applicants credit is , so long as you are prepared to hand over the keys and you can prove title finance will be available to just about anyone. Please give XL Business Finance  a call today to see how much cash we can release against your pride and joy.

It goes without saying that the high street banks have a captive audience when it comes to providing business finance. Most businesses will turn to their business banker in times of need. Whether it is a bank overdraft commercial mortgage , equipment finance or invoice finance your friendly manager will be only too please to help. Remember though when it comes to the different forms of business finance for every high street bank offering finance their is an alternative independent company offering funding.

Once upon a time it was possible to get a package deal with the bank. They might do one product as a loss leader and as such the overall funding was priced very competitively. The problem of having all ones eggs in one basket has become evident over the last year or so. Banks have been found to wanting at times and it is very true that they are great at giving their customers umbrellas but as soon as it starts raining they want them back.

In our opinion the independent business finance companies provide a product that is very competitively priced however the levels of service and flexibility can far exceed those of the banks. This is very true when it comes to factoring and invoice discounting. Whilst for certain types of business there are certain banks that we would recommend as a whole independent provide a far more approachable and flexible service.

XL Business Finance has been helping its clients for over 10 years to obtain the most appropriate invoice factoring and invoice financing facilities. The cheapest is not always the best and a by undertaking a brief review of your business we can provide two or three funders ( probably ones you may not have heard of before) that will knock the socks of the banks in providing the right level of service and flexible funding that your business requires.

According to a recent quarterly business  index economic survey the general feeling amongst North West Businesses is that their is an air of optimism and enthusiasm about the future. However many of the businesses feel that trading conditions are worse than they were 12 months ago.

In addition 55 percent of the businesses feel that the economy will have recovery by the summer of this year. However one in five feel that it will be two years before the economy fully recovers suggesting that certain sectors of the economy have been hard hit.

This Business factors index has been provided by Bibby Financial services. The index tracks small businesses turnover since 2007 and the trends and information have be collated with the results of over 300 business interviews.

The optimism must be offered with caution. One in five feel conditions are worse than they were 12 months ago. In addition many have had to take cost cutting measures. And one in five don’t think the economy will ave recovered in two years.

Firms in the North West with many involved in Manufacturing have had a tough time during the recession and while we don’t expect an immediate recovery it is clear that many businesses have experienced a difficult few months. Although 2010 ha already provided a number of challenges such as the adverse weather conditions  a weak pound is fueling export growth and as such confidence is slowly starting to improve. It suggests that moving forward business are optimistic about their prospects of a recovery.

The upshot is  that it will continue to be difficult to obtain business finance. However XL Business Finance has experience of providing innovative finance solutions whether it be equipment finance refinance of existing equipment. We are also vastly experienced in providing invoice finance solutions whether it be factoring or invoice discounting. Give us a ring a ding ding.

Although we are officially out of the recession i firmly believe the economy is still on the edge. As such it will be a long time before banks and high street finance companiesgo back to their cavalier days of lending money to any tom dick and harry. It is bad enough getting finance with a clean credit history and even more difficult if you have any adverse credit. this doesnt mean you wont get finance however you can expect to pay more in terms of interest rates and you will also find the security required will be more onerous.

Luckily XL Business Finance has been helping business for many years with all kinds of business financing requirements. We know how to structure a finance proposal to ensure you have the best possible chance of success. We can very quickly find any adverse data recorded against a limited company and it is advisable to get copies of satisfaction certificates or confirmation of settlements in advance of the application. At very least we need to provide an explanation as to how the adverse info came about and what the plans are if any to address the situation.

If as a director of a newly formed limited company or a transaction which requires the provision of a personal guarantee any finance company will carry out a credit check on you personally. They will need permission of course and if you approach more than one finance company this may leave multiple searches and potentially adversely affect your personal credit score. If you are going to be undertaking a round robin of the UK based leasing and invoice discounting companies we recommend that you obtain your own personal credit reference report. This is cheap and easy to do. If you cant be bothered than we can do it but we will require written confirmation to undertake the search on your behalf.

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There are two ways of obtaining business  finance for MBOs. Firstly banks can do cash flow lends or an asset based lender can finance the assets within the business to provide the cash. The problem with banks is that during the recession they have had their fingers burnt with cash flow lends. Significant amounts of money are lent against the future profitability of the business. There can be potentially little security for the banks and  it easy to see why the banks have been writing off significant amounts of bad debt. During 2009 banks were doing hardly any cash flow lends however during 2010 we can expect this to increase as the economic recovery start to take effect and the banks relax their cautious underwriting approach.

Structured lending or asset based lending takes a slightly different approach to providing loan facilities. Asset based lending usually starts with an invoice discounting facility which will release up to 90% of a businesses unpaid invoices.  On the back of this it might be possible to obtain some form of revolving stocking facility typically at 50% of  the value of the stock. An asset based lender will also advance an amount against the value of the assets probably around 70% of the forced sale value. Money is advanced typically with a 3 year pay back. Certain finance companies also provide Enterprise Finance Guarantee Funding usually at the amount equivalent to any directors contribution to the business.

The problem with both these two forms of financing is that you are relying on one finance provider and as such having eggs all in one basket will leave the funder with an awful lot of control over your business. Whilst it is not possible to split stocking finance away from the invoice discounting it is certainly possible to use a unrelated leasing company to provide funding against plant and machinery. Refinancing existing machinery is relatively easy to do provided there is some value in the kit.

There are so many business financing options available for a new start business.  Nearly all the banks can offer a plethora of funding options however which ones are best suited for a new start business.

At XL Business Finance we have been helping many new start businesses for over 10 years and our experience and expertise ensure that a business is provided with the very best business finance options.

Understandably many new starts are drawn to their banks whom can potentially offer  equipment and asset finance, commercial mortgages, overdrafts as well as  factoring and invoice discounting facilities.

It is tempting to go with the bank who are offering a packaged deal however in doing so you might be storing up future difficulties when it comes to obtaining further credit in the future. Banks are very good at giving it to you with one hand and then taking it away with another. For example, we have seen many instances whereby the bank will offer a small overdraft facility in order to win the factoring business. All that happens is that the customer ends up with reduced limits on the factoring facility to counterbalance the overdraft.

In addition we have seen these initial overdrafts being completely withdrawn after a relatively short period of time. The business would have had far better cash flow if they had gone with a more flexible factoring company .

It may also be that a bank will offer you finance to purchase some assets or equipment. They mat take additional security to provide the funding. These deals may seem very attractive in terms of the interest costs however these assets may just as well be financed via a third party leasing company. A little further down the line you find yourself asking the bank for some fundeing  for something which can’t be leased but the bank are fully exposed.

We would recommend that if  third party finance is available at the start then this should be seriously considered so you don’t have all your eggs in one basket.

Business Finance covers a great number  of financial products many of which can be provided by independent finance companies as opposed to bank based lending. We would suggest that organising business finance has a great deal of benefits when using independentbased lenders. In the current economic climate it is advisable to spread as many types of lending with as many different lenders as possible. Never has it been more prudent not to have all your eggs in one basket. Fundng from asset based lenders is still relatively abundant therefore in theory it should be easier to be less reliant of the banks.

At XL Business Finance we would recommended that if possible you should only use your bank as a clearing facility. An invoice discounting or factoring facility is preferable to a bank overdraft. Invoice finance grows with the business  whereas a overdraft which is repayable on demand will often be fixed at a set amount which depends on the level of security available. An overdraft amount is nearly always never enough.

Also there is absolutely no reason why you should need to have a commercial mortgage with your own bank. There are a number of specialist commercial mortgage institutions offering excellent deals. keep your commercial mortgage separate from your own bank to prevent the bank having too much control, on your businesses finances.

Equipment finance by way of hire purchase and leasing can easily be arranged via third party leasing companies. Again using a different finance company will prevent having too many eggs in one basket.

XL Business Finance has been helping many businesses for over 10 years to obtain the most flexible and competitive funding available in the market place. We understand how to structure a proposal and what information the finance companies require resulting in a very high conversion of our applications.

Happy New Year to all our customers and potential new customers. 2010 is undoubtedly going to be an interesting year. On the one hand we started to see a recovery towards the back end of 2009. The number of enquiries we were getting from businesses requiring help with asset finance was definitely on the the up. From our point of view we were definitely starting to see the green shoots of recovery. On the other hand the government must seriously eat into the deficit created by quantitative easing. We are expecting an increase in taxes and massive cut in governmentspending. In our opinion the economy is still balancing on a cliff edge. So what does this mean in terms of obtaining credit.

In our opinion it will still be a very difficult year dealing with the banks and financial institutions. Unless there is a further injection of cash from somewhere it is simple economics of supply and demand. There is a shortage of cash in the market and the banks will continue to cherry pick the best deals. Most of the proposals we are seeing for hire purchase and finance  all have a story to tell. None of them are straight forward and over the last twelve months  most businesses have had a number of issues. Until we are completely out of the recession the banks and high street finance companies will still be very difficult to deal with.

The good news is that are still a number of independent finance companies able to offer finance for most eventualities. It is is just a case of knowing what which finance company will do what. XL Business Finance has over 10 years experience of helping businesses obtaining business finance for a variety of projects. We believe we can add value to the funding requirements of most business so give us a call today to find out hoe we can help you.