The last 12 months have certainly been difficult in terms of organising asset finance. Finance companies are taking are very strict approach when it comes to underwriting. Many of the bank owned high street finance companies are only lending to their own customers and some are not lending at all. Bank of Scotland and Barclays appears not to be providing any leasing deals at all and others are doing so on a restricted basis. HSBC will only provide facilities of over a £100k and Lombard are only lending to Nat West and RBS customers. Therefore thee are only a few options when it comes to hire purchase and asset finance leasing. Thankfully XL Business Finance has over 10 years experience in the market and has the means to add value to any capital expenditure product by knowing which companies are in the market and which are not.
Although there are signs that the economy is picking up we are still technically in a recession and I believe that it will be many years before we get back to how the asset finance market was before the credit crunch. It is virtually impossible to obtain funding for intangible investments unless you have a very strong balance sheet or you are prepared to pay a very high interest rate and provide personal guarantees. Therefore computers, telephone systems and any high tech equipment is even more difficult to obtain funding for in this difficult market. There are a few finance companies prepared to advance £10k per customer on this basis but it is no guarantee.
Otaining finance for what is perceived to be machinery and equipment which you may think has good value for security purposes can also prove difficult. Unless you can get finance from a high street funder which look at the strength of your balance sheet you might be caught between a rock and a heard stone. More on this later.
