Most finance companies have the same funding costs and they have the ability to link it to fixed rates or variable rates. At the time of writing this article the cost of fixed funds for most finance companies is around 4.o%. I would suggest that a margin of 2.5-3% would be a fair return giving a nominal rate to the customer of about 6.5-7%. Therefore when a customer was being quoted 5.5% on a hire purchase deal one can only deduce that the broker was about to sign the deal up on a variable rate. Most finance companies on a variable are taking a min base rate of around 3% so this would seem to stack up.

At a time when interest rates are really low it would make sense to go for the slightly more expensive fixed rate because rates are only going to go up but maybe not in the immediate future. At the end of the day it must b the customers choice and as such the customer must be aware as to what he is signing up for. As provision of  hire purchase or finance lease to business users is totally unregulated the end user must be aware that even a written quote may not contain this vital information

XL Business Finance has been helping similar businesses for over ten years and as such we have developed a reputation as one of the leading finance brokers in the country. At a time when many of the high street funders are still reluctant to bring up the shutters we can source alternative funding arrangements. Dotted around the country there are many independently owned leasing countries that all have a niche which can accommodate most situations. In addition many of these finance companies will not accept deals from any old asset finance  brokers. Unfortunately there are a few bad uns that give us good uns a bad name. Many of them are inexperienced retired bank managers that don’t know how to structure a deal. In order to have the best possible chance of getting your deal agreed make sure that the broker you are using is experienced and has an asset finance background

Whether it is a £1.0m   refinancing of existing plant and machinery or purchasing a £5k multi function copier XL Business Finance has numerous funders with cash wanting to do deals. These might not always been well known high street funders however there are still finance companies in the market today wanting to deals. As with any sort of finance they all have their sweet spots and they expect any proposals to be put them in a way that makes them easy to understand. It maybe also that they don’t need as much info as you would normally expet a bank to require. We can certainly get a handle as to what is achievable very quickly indeed without the need for expensive business plans and projections. Allot of the time it comes down to the sort of asset and what other security is available.

And remember that finance is a risk reward business so if your business has been trading for less than three years , has an insolvent balance sheet or has shad a difficult period of trading don’t expect bank rates!

A print finance specialist is only interested  in the forced sale value of the kit and they will know their exit route in the event of a default situation. They will have a network of dealers and suppliers and even end users that they can shift kit onto. For a business purchasing traditional litho equipment a print finance specialist can certainly add value to any business. They are not hung up with the balance sheet of the business but are more interested in the serviceability and the security in the kit. Therefore a business which is loss making or even is a new start business may be able to obtain finance lease or hire purchase facilities. And if you have a particular press in mind they may be even be able to source a repossession or find a part exchange on another deal they are working on.

This is contrast to digital printing equipment which is viewed as having very little or no security.Therefore first port of call will be a balance sheet lender or high street finance company. providing your business has a at least three filed accounts , is very profitable and has a very strong balance sheet you will have absolutely no problem obtaining finance. Of course every single business is trading exceptionally well at the moment , NOT!  There are a few finance companies that will take a view on these sorts of deals but if they are not at the races it will be very difficult to obtain funding without personal guarantees!

There are still many non bank owned financial institutions providing hire purchase and finance lease facilities for new start businesses. Providing that the directors are home owners with a bit of wool on their backs it may be possible to provide finance depending on the cost of equipment and the quality of the guarantor. Most finance companies will require a personal guarantee which says if the business doesn’t pay then the director as an individual will be liable. The directors must definitely be home owners with little or no adverse credit. If in doubt with your written permission we can do a personal  credit check on your behalf.

In addition invoice finance in the form of factoring should be relatively easy to obtain. Again providing the individuals as directors are relatively clean and the debtor book is of reasonable quality a decent locally based invoice factoring company will be able to provide you with cash against your unpaid invoices.

 Which finance company is best for your particular needs depends on the industry that you operate , your geographical location and your estimated turnover. Again XL Business Finance will be happy to assist you find the most suitable funding partner.

Thankfully there are one or two finance companies still lending money via the broker market however they have become more choosy as to what deals they will do. It is simple supply and demand. They don’t have as much cash as they used to do and they have far more delays to do then they used to have. Combined with an increasing bad debt provision it becomes understandable as to why it is getting harder to obtain credit.

It is therefore imperative that any application for finance is presented to the finance company in the best possible manner. WE don’t necessarily require projections business plans and cash flow forecasts. However we do need an understanding as to the rational for the purchase and we also need to evidence serviceability. So long as we have some recent management accounts and 3 months bank statements we will be very quickly be able to provide an indication of terms for  any available finance. It is far better to get all this information up front rather than presenting it to the finance company in dribs and drabs. We can help a business get the right information together.

 From an independent brokers  point of view, before the recession most of the asset finance divisions would all take broker business. There was Lombard,  Bank of Scotland  , Yorkshire Bank and Barclays to name a few. Whereas now the banks are tending to look after their own customers and wont accept broker introduced  business. Therefore if you go to your own bank and perhaps you are not strong enough to get approval there are few high street options available. In addition some high street banks wont offer hire purchase or finance lease facilities less than £50k. HSBC is a prime example. They might agree a facility for you however it will be done a straight forward commercial loan which means taht if you go back to your bank for some further funding you risk the possibility of not being able to get further funding.

 The good news is that there are still one or two finance companies that deal exclusively with the broker market that are willing to take 3rd party business. XL Business Finance has had over ten years experience of helping such businesses. Credit is still tight to come by and as such we can add value to your business because we know exactly how to structure a deal for a finance company in order to get the best possible chance of approval. Believe you me it is worth the effort because the next tier of funders are extremely expensive!

For example it is unlikely you will get a print finance specialist to finance an expensive  digital printer. A print finance company is more interested in the residual value of the equipment and their exit route if they  such a machine came back to them in a distress situation. Print finance companies know the litho market and a certain degree the flexo market very well and as such tend to stick to financing these sorts of machines.

It is therefore more likely you will get finance for a digital piece of kit or a non ltho piece of kit from a traditional balance sheet finance company. So long as we can evidence serviceability, there is no adverse information and your business is profitable than you have a good chance of geting finance approved.

The problem is when a business that has been struggling wishes to buy digital kit which is perceived as having very little security. There isn’t enough value in the kit to get the print finance companies interested and the balance sheet isn strong enough to justify an advance from a high street bank owned finance company. Potentially the only way is to provide additional security by taking a charge over existing kit or even property.

 Balance sheet lenders are typically your banks and high street finance companies. They are more interested in how long a business has been trading, how strong the balance sheet is, how profitable a business is and without a doubt you must be able to evidence serviceability. They are looking for businesses trading f0r more than 3 years without any blemishes on their trading history. If there are any county court judgements finance will tend to be declined. If your investment is £100k for example they will expect to see a net worth of at least that amount.  If your business is strong enough for balance sheet lending you can expect to obtain very favourable interest rates and excellent terms for hire purchase and finance lease transactions.

The problem is that the high street lenders are being very picky about who they will lend money to. A business which could have obtained funding from a bank 18 months ago may find that they are given the cold shoulder at the moment. It is a combination of banks tightening up their underwriting criteria combined with a lack of cash in the market which has caused basic economics of supply and demand to kick in.

The alternative are the asset lenders. These finance companies are specialist finance companies that will value equipment and lend a percentage of their perceived forced sale value. Therefore a new machine costing £100k may only have a day one forced sale value of £60k which might mean they will only advance £50k against that piece of equipment. The remaining deposit would therefore need to be found by using additional equipment to provide a more secure transaction. XL Business Finance has been providing funding solutions for over 10 years.

Until the credit crunch there were many banks and high street finance companies wanting to your business. There was plenty of cash around and the terms and conditions were fantastic. Low interest rates, minimal deposits  , long terms , no personal guarantees were all too common place. The last twelve months however have been the complete opposite. Banks as we know have shut up shop and getting funding from a finance company other than your own bank has been very difficult. Therefore to get the best possible chance of  success it is absolutely imperative that your application for funding is presented to the finance company in the best possible light. XL Businesses finance are truly one of the UKs leading independent finance company,  its Managing Director has over 20 years experience in the finance industry.

It is not always necessary top provide detailed business plans and cash flow projections. So long as we have the right info including a full set of the last audited accounts, recent management accounts, bank statements to evidence a well run account together with the rational for the investment you will have the best opportunity of obtaining the best possible finance deal. If there is any other information that will help such as copies of finance agreements coming to an end this will all help. Get it wrong and there is a massive difference between the prime funders and the next tier of funders if indeed you are able to get finance at all.