Everything coming up roses?

Posted on June 06, 2015 | , , ,

Well, the election is over, manifesto’s shredded now, stone tablets left somewhere for archeologists to discover in a few hundred years time.

All the fuss, speeches, photo opportunities ended. Now we can move forward and help move the economy forward.

The only fly in the ointment will be the EU referendum in two years time, but I think that common sense and concerns about growth will keep us in, albeit with some changes given by Brussels. Have no doubt, the leading EU countries will try to ensure that there is a yes vote in the UK.

So is everything in the garden rosy, well it is OK, but rosy? Growth is now been moved downwards by both the CBI and the Bank of England. In the last three months to April 2015, the goods deficit worsened, with exports falling more than imports.

David Kern, Chief economist of the British Chamber of Commere stated today “We need to ensure that our exporting businesses can compete on a level playing field with their competitors and, to help them do so, they need better access to finance. We also need to see greater focus on encouraging medium sized businesses to export and to increase their penetration in growing markets outside Europe.”

This statement has hit the nail firmly on the head, “access to finance”. We hear every week from manufacturers, large and small, they they are simply unable to access leasing or HP for any of their EU customers. Banks and UK based funders simply say NO as a default position. Is it any wonder that exports are dropping.

This month, we have launched a major leasing programme for a world wide manufacturer for increasing its sales in Europe. This has meant travelling throughout Europe presenting how leasing is a “sales aid”.  Germany, France , The Netherlands, and still six more countries to visit.  This company had tried leasing companies  in the UK, and asked many funders to help in Europe, all of them, including European funders said, no sorry, cannot help, or please call our Berlin office or Paris office, they might be able to help you. Sales aid, no, very much sales prevention !!

This is no exception, although most of our suppliers asking for European leasing, come from the EU. They know, they have to offer a complete European leasing package, not pass their valuable sales leads on an ” ad hoc ” basis to various funders in various countries.

At Oak, we offer the total european  equipment leasing solution, with almost every EU country covered, almost, well there are one or two exceptions, and we all know who they are at the moment!!  Our unique position as the leading european equipment leasing broker gives both customers, and suppliers the crucial help and support to finance that they require, not in the future, but right now.

The UK’s largest market European sales market is Germany, where in April 2015, we sold them £2.6billion of goods. They sold to us £5.1 billion. The Germans are very proactive in their sales approach in the EU, we simply lag behind them, thinking it is far too hard to sell in Germany. That is a myth, it could be that we do not present the sales process in a way that would encourage them to buy.

Remember when you were young, and learnt to ride a cycle, someone was always there to help give you confidence, just think of Oak as your “stabilisers” let Oak give you the confidence of seizing the opportunity of selling into Europe. Remember, most people will read this and say, no, too much trouble, we will stay as we are and just sell in the UK, forget about exports.

You be the one that picks up the phone and says, ” how can Oak help us grow in Europe”

In the last few months, we have handled deals from Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, German, Austrian, Swiss, French, Spanish, Dutch, and Irish companies. All of these are done deals, or ongoing vendor partnerships. The best part is that since January, five large UK companies have also launched their European leasing programmes through Oak, now I wonder, who will be the sixth?