<
p>Jonathan Willder of Catalyst Business Finance caught up with B&C give the inside scoop on the firm’s offering:
Catalyst Business Finance is an established presence in the Alternative Funding market, advancing funds to SME’s in all sectors, primarily against good quality invoices. We also offer short term lending secured on other assets where that is more relevant.
We recognise that most businesses need flexibility in accessing working capital and prefer to decide for themselves when and how much cash they need in order to finance their operations.
So we tore up the traditional invoice finance rule book and set out to deliver cashflow to our clients in a way that would better suit their needs according to our four core beliefs:
• Businesses should pay only for the funds that they use and not for funds that they might use.
• They should decide when to draw down funds and should not be charged if they don’t.
• No business should be tied into a contract for finance they’re not happy with or which does not suit them and they should never be charged to set up or terminate a facility
• All charging should be 100 per cent transparent with no hidden or unexpected costs.
Our clients can use as much or as little of the agreed facility as they like and repay us early, without penalty, if other funds become available. In this way our clients can plan their cashflow and calculate the cost of the facility before they commit to anything.
We complement the banks
Much has been made of the reluctance of mainstream funders to support the financing needs of the SME sector. But not that long ago many were levelling the opposite criticism at the banks for not being more prudent in their lending decisions. Prudence, however, is often forgotten when it comes to accusations of the banks’ failure to deliver much needed cash for business.
Given recent history, we have a right to expect the banks to consider more closely the risks that they take when advancing funds. But there is a flip side to this, namely that if the banks feel unable to respond to funding requests due to more stringent lending criteria, the wider finance market should step in to fill the vacuum created with imaginative and creative solutions to satisfy the need – subject always to detailed due diligence.
This represents a real opportunity for alternative funders, like Catalyst, to act alongside the banks by supporting SMEs with the cash they need to generate growth and improve efficiency – and, in so doing, to stimulate the economic recovery that we all wish for.
The alternative funding market has gathered significant momentum over the past couple of years. 2015 is sure to see this sector grow ever more rapidly, not only as a result of participants spreading the word about the benefits of alternative funding options, but also as a result of forthcoming changes in legislation that will require banks to refer rejected loan applications to alternative providers.
So the arrival of new funding sources is beginning to close the finance gap. Funders like Catalyst can be more responsive, offer more choice, and give greater flexibility in meeting SME funding needs than the larger banks – a level of choice that could never be offered effectively by those unable to step outside traditional funding models.
Catalyst is positioned to react positively to your needs
As knowledge of the alternative options now available is communicated by bodies such as the NACFB, Catalyst has positioned itself to react quickly to a growing number of introducer enquiries and the new conditions in the market:
• We have built a highly experienced national sales team that enables us to react quickly to requests for much needed cashflow.
• We have developed an exceptionally flexible approach to delivering the right product at the right price, balancing secured commercial loans with selective invoice finance.
• We have a highly skilled risk management team and robust systems and processes to manage and monitor risk at all stages of a transaction.
• We have a well respected operations team, again supported by robust systems and processes, who deliver the service levels demanded by both our introducers and our clients.
With over 100 introducers now engaged with Catalyst, we understand the concerns of NACFB members. Your clients are “gold leaf” and should only be passed to a funding partner who is able to deliver service levels that meet your own standards and expectations.
We have built our business with three key objectives:
1. to be fast in responding to client enquiries.
2. to be flexible in delivering required cashflow into their business.
3. to be efficient in delivering results.
Our clients are not bound to us by contract so we have to deliver on these key objectives and provide excellent service at the right price to ensure we enjoy repeat business. In practice, Catalyst is accepted as long term funding partners by virtually all our clients and we regard this as a key measure of our success.
We have a proven track record of repeat business and we encourage all to learn more about us and how we can help you deliver value not only to your own business but also to the business of your customers.
Visit Catalyst Finance to find your nearest Client Account Director or call us on 01453 758365.
Jonathan Willder of Catalyst Business Finance caught up with B&C give the inside scoop on the firm's offering.
Leave a comment