investment arena
SME lessor and broker Bell Finance has diversified beyond
being exclusively a funder and is now helping cash-hungry companies
to gain access to European investment money.
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Over the past two years the company has implemented a marketing
strategy that involves putting together grant applications,
business plans and marketing reports for small, cash-hungry
companies to gain access to such investments.
“A lot of businesses in the UK are entitled to European
investment money. We offer the service on a no-win, no-fee basis,
but it is good for us because the European investment grants are
dependent on asset finance,” said Richard Batchelor, managing
director of Bell Finance.
“A few of our customers have slowed down their spending
programmes, and this strategy has allowed us to develop another
market,” he added.
Once Bell Finance has obtained its customer’s grant, the company
then puts together a grant claim that is focused on documentation
for asset finance. Companies that pay in cash for goods are not
entitled to these grants.
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By GlobalDataBased in Warwickshire, Bell Finance has a diversified portfolio,
offering asset finance,HP, insurance services, contract hire,
commercial loans, insolvency services and even a small amount of
invoice discounting and factoring.
It also finances a diversified range of assets, including
construction and precision engineering equipment and general
processing machinery, and gets 50 per cent of its business through
broking.
Although the company saw 30 per cent year-on-year growth for
2007, it is concerned about its performance for 2008 and beyond as
a result of the current economic climate.
“We have lost a few big customers, including one in the house
building industry that has contracted, and two others through
acquisition. So we have started marketing heavily again,” Batchelor
said.
Although fraud has not been a problem for Bell Finance, the risk
of default is increasing due to a general cash shortage in the
market.
“It’s not that people do not want to pay, it’s just that they
can’t. Our problems are generally not with our customers, but their
customers,” Batchelor said.
Nevertheless, Bell Finance’s risk analysis and underwriting
concentrates more heavily on its customers’ assets and the
capabilities and personal history of the company’s director.
Furthermore, amidst some of the biggest fraud cases the UK
leasing market has seen, Bell Finance has began implementing an
asset monitoring and tracking system.
Katherine Gregory
