RSM Tenon have launched a new website, findingfinance.co.uk, designed to provide free independent funding advice to business owners.
The website, which went live on 20 January 2012, allows small and medium-sized business owners to look for alternative forms of funding, including invoice finance, asset-based lending, trade finance as well as business loans. The Finding Finance specialist advisers are based throughout the UK and do not charge users or take a commission from lenders helping ensure owners get the best deal for their business.
Carl Jackson, head of RSM Tenon’s Recovery service line, said: “At a time when there is considerable debate about the availability of funding for small businesses, it pays business owners to familiarise themselves with the full range of funding options available. A traditional overdraft is often insufficient to support a growing small business and there are a range of alternatives offering companies increased funding, greater flexibility and, importantly for many business owners, reduced personal risk.
Nearly 42,000 businesses in the UK are estimated to currently use invoice finance*, a funding solution whereby a business owner bypasses the normal 30-day plus wait for payment of their invoices. Invoice Finance companies provide immediate funds against invoices raised, greatly assisting both owners of fast growing businesses and those with cash flow issues. The amounts borrowed under this type of arrangement have grown considerably in recent years as has the use of Asset Based Lending which involves borrowing against other business assets such as stock, plant and machinery and property as well invoices.
“Our industry’s opinion of these funding models has changed,” said Carl Jackson. “A number of years ago, they were thought of as a backstop rather than first choice solution – as funding has become scarce and people have begun to realise that the flexibility and terms of such funding models can be competitive, their popularity has risen. They are not the solution to every funding problem but in the current climate every business owner should know what is potentially in the finance locker”.
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