NACFB CEO Adam Tyler reports on fresh initiatives to
gain funds for the province.
It is
not fresh news that UK businesses have experienced problems in
securing commercial funding, but those in Northern Ireland have had
particular problems over the past few years.
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That said, it is no secret that
Northern Irish brokers have experienced more than their fair share
of problems with funding lines, perhaps more than any other area of
the UK.
After the downturn, it became
apparent that many funders in Northern Ireland were withdrawing
funding lines completely, leaving a large problem for brokers.
The National Association of
Commercial Finance Brokers (NACFB) has always maintained an
excellent dialogue with our broker members in Northern Ireland.
While we are making efforts to
secure active funders on our patron’s panel that operate across the
whole of the UK, special effort is being put into negotiating with
existing patrons to gain funds for the province.
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By GlobalDataOn 16 January, myself and Stephen
Basset of Arkle, an NACFB patron that has been particularly active
in Northern Ireland, visited Belfast to meet the Northern Irish
members of the Association.
It was a great day to get
information on the funding problem from the ‘coal face’.
Basset said: “It was a very
insightful day. There was a good reception from the 18 brokers
represented and a useful opportunity to discuss the changing
market, the increase in rates and the ways that the broker
community and funders can work together.
“The fact that a lot of the
Northern Ireland market is more hire purchase orientated is
something that lenders based in the UK need to understand, and the
information provided on the day should help more NACFB patrons
tailor their products to the Northern Ireland market.”
The day was also a good opportunity
to inform our brokers of some of the work that goes on behind the
scenes to help our entire membership across the UK acquire and
write more business.
Working in conjunction with the
FLA, we are about to launch the Small Business Finance
Directory, a website listing all of the funders, brokers and
equipment finance specialists in the UK.
Lead generation schemes have also
been at the forefront of the Association’s objectives in the past
few years, and we have taken a far more active role in working
alongside trade associations such as the FLA, the Federation of
Small Businesses and the Institute of Credit Management, as well as
SME representatives across the UK, with the aim of promoting what
our broker members can do.
Our work with trade associations
representing SMEs have been useful in rolling out lead generation
schemes for our members and more of these schemes will be unveiled
throughout 2012.
The voice of the association has
now grown and with a greater representation of brokers from across
the whole country, we now have a stronger lobbying voice than ever
to approach government.
The established nature of the NACFB
has led to its close involvement with government projects, such as
the Genesis Initiative, which is a great platform to give MPs an
accurate view of funding across the UK and represents viewpoints
from a wide range of SME trade bodies.
The work that we carry out with government will continue
throughout 2012 and we thoroughly intend to ensure that our member
companies get the attention that they require.
See also: The case for Northern Ireland
