Adam Tyler, chief executive of the National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers (NACFB), says the Small Business Finance Directory needs more brokers to sign up to achieve critical mass.
As you read this, we’ve passed the £100m mark for leads placed through the Small Business Finance Directory, over a period that began with the launch of the revised site in June. That figure is still way off where we’d like it to be, and we’re still bringing on additional lenders, but the trend is in the right direction and the lenders that we sign up are backing up their promises with real commitment.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Access deeper industry intelligence
Experience unmatched clarity with a single platform that combines unique data, AI, and human expertise.
We made an initial announcement during the voting process at the annual general meeting, which was part of the Finance Professional Show on 6 November, of a major lending group coming back to the market through NACFB brokers. The lender plans to exclusively serve fifty handpicked NACFB brokers initially. They will be providing leads for commercial mortgages only. It’s a big opportunity, which will be extended to more commercial mortgage brokers at a later date.
The FCA’s vision for the future of our industry was a big topic of discussion at our Annual General Meeting. Nothing is set in stone yet and we still have the power to influence the decision-making process. Every member of our Board is a practising experienced commercial finance broker. So whenever we give feedback to the FCA, it’s from the same perspective as our members.
Right now, everyone needs to be applying for an interim licence as soon as possible, because any broker who hasn’t got one by 1 April, in the words of one of our directors, might as well not get out of bed.
With 94 funders now working with us, including vehicle finance specialists Lex Autolease, there’s a palpable willingness to lend, as you could see at the Finance Professional Show. If you weren’t there, you missed an exceptionally busy day that never got quiet – it took a number of tannoy announcements to quieten things down after 4pm. And it isn’t too early to book for next year’s Commercial Finance Expo on June 25, always assuming you’ve already bought yourself a 2014 wall-planner.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalDataThe recent deals that SMEs have been inputting on the Small Business Finance Directory have been about 10% in the leasing sector, with the top four categories for number of deals being machine tools, printing equipment, production/processing plant and agricultural equipment (in that order). After some further announcements at our AGM showcasing the size of the opportunity, a number of additional brokers have signed up to be on the system, so we’re getting closer to the numbers of brokers we want to be hooked up.
The idea is that every business will have a broker within a short distance, who will serve as a specialist for the type of funding that business needs. Of course we can’t expect an expert in marine equipment finance on every street corner, so it’s about reading the data, juggling the programming and filling the gaps. But we’ve set ourselves a target for the end of the year, that no business will have to go beyond a specified distance for the broker they need, and that’s a big focus for December so we can start really leaning on the lead generation facility, and on our ever-expanding panel of lenders, right through 2014.
