Availability to funding, is the life blood in any growing business economy ,without the availability of loans, leasing, or overdrafts, business would slowly seize up ,access to funding is crucial for companies to expand, employ more , sell more, export more and generate profits.
Yet in the UK, funding in 2014 has been moribund. A few headlines about peer to peer lending are very attractive for a day or two, but quickly turn to fish and chip papers within a week. The facts are quite different and make a stark comparison, net lending to businesses actually fell by £6.9bn in Q4 2014.
According to the British Chamber of Commerce, ” Although large businesses have little difficulty in accessing a wide range of funding options, young, fast-growing businesses across the UK are still finding it unacceptably difficult to access the finance they need to grow their business”
The election campaign is a prime example , every party promising what they hope will drive the electorate into their arms. Yet after the election,there is one thing we all know, whoever will win says , what they found was not what they expected, and surprise surprise, pledges they promised will take longer..! Quelle surprise!!
As Mark Knoppler in his lyrics, about the poet Basil Bunting wrote ” fish and chip words”
An election will always cause uncertainty,and uncertainty is bad for inward investment, many projects will be placed on ice, growth will slow. If growth slows, whichever party or coalition is in power, they will have a problem. That is why it is crucial that funding is made available to companies.
One of the main sources of funding for SME’s are leasing companies and leasing brokers. Yet we appear almost to be the “forgotten”. Leasing has provided the stimulus for growth for over 50 years, by enabling small and larger companies afford to acquire machinery and equipment that helps them expand their business and grow. Most companies say that dealing with their banks is hard work. The days when the bank manager knew his customers and fully understood what they required have long gone.Now, they often have very little idea on what makes a business tick, apart from an excel spreadsheet and form completion.
The people at the coalface are the leasing companies and leasing brokers; we deal with new starts every single day, we can help you structure a plan that will be accepted by the underwriters. To put it simply, most of us having being doing this for many many years.
You simply cannot put a price on experience and knowledge.
Whilst a spreadsheet is useful, it is not the ” be it all”, spreadsheets and projections are often just a finger in the air, and hope! Most leasing companies will know this and take into consideration all the other factors that you might not consider are worth mentioning. We have the flexibility to thing ” outside the box” That’s what makes leasing companies different from banks, we are not blinkered, just experienced people, who can make the difference to you.
Oak has found that many suppliers have thought about selling into Europe, but have again thought it would be too complicated. Europe is suffering from the same lack of funding from their own banks, the same legacy that our banks are under. Again by utilising leasing as a sales aid, will help your customers overcome the lack of funding.
So no matter if you are a SME in the UK or a supplier selling into Europe, you know where to come. Customers say that Oak are real people in the real world, the sort of people that you might need in your corner when you things are tough and full of objections . For straight talking leasing solutions, both in the UK or Europe , just call Oak, the equipment leasing specialists .