Leading South Wales finance house Henry Howard Finance and
brokerage firm, is one of the UK’s fastest-growing privately-owned
companies
The burgeoning broker, which prides itself on providing funding
for anything and everything “from floor to ceiling”, has grown by
an average of 57% year-on-year over the past four years. It is one
of Wales’ fastest growing businesses and the largest funder in the
UK in the convenience store marketplace.
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Founded in 1996 by Howard Ross, business partner, Mark Crook,
joined a year later becoming fifty/fifty equity director in 2000.
Both worked in the past with the Lombard Group. Mark worked for the
sales aid business Lombard Business Equipment Leasing and Howard
for Lombard Business Finance which funded assets in the Mid
Marketplace.
The multi award-winning business now employs 40 people, with 28
in its £1m Newport headquarters. The rest are either at satellite
offices in London’s Canary Wharf, Manchester and Birmingham or
based at home.
The £35m turnover business relocated from Cardiff into its
impressive, brand new, offices at Langstone Business Village, on
the outskirts of Newport, in January this year.
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By GlobalData“The position is absolutely ideal for our purposes and the
building we’re in superb – we couldn’t have asked for more.
Fantastic building and perfect location,” Mr Crook enthuses,
leaning back in a leather chair in the ultra-chic glass-panelled
boardroom.
The rapidly expanding specialist business has successfully
captured a significant share of a niche market by tailoring bespoke
finance packages to fit the precise needs of its individual
clients.
The firm provides a service to major blue chip businesses such
as Tesco, Honda, Corus and Texaco and most recently secured a major
deal with G4S, formerly known as Group 4 Securicor.
HHF is one of the largest sales – aid brokers rubbing shoulders
with the likes of CF, LeaseDirect, Shire & Tower.
Sales and Marketing Director Mark Crook, a management science
and finance graduate of Swansea University, said: “We predominantly
fund small ticket lending with an average deal size of £12,500. Our
major markets are IT hardware and software, telecoms, security,
such as CCTV, access control and electronic point of sales (EPOS)
equipment.”
Crook says deals range from £1k to in excess of £1m. “We
concentrate on equipment funding for businesses, large and small.
It is the type of funding which we term ‘business
critical’.
“It is for the type of equipment which a business is always
going to need such as for a telephone system, new IT equipment or
software or electronic point of sale gear. These are assets which
owners must have to run their business.”
Henry Howard Finance has grown phenomenally over recent
years.
Something which has not gone unnoticed with the ground-breaking
business racking up a stack of industry leading awards.
Crook acknowledges the crucial role that the largely
locally-recruited, talented, flexible, willing and committed staff
have played in their success.
“The nature of our business requires a high level of skills. We
are pleased to have been able to recruit and retain the graduate
calibre recruits we require from the local labour pool which are
helping us to grow the business.
“The work that we do is extremely varied. We could be dealing
with a convenience store owner looking to lease a new till one
minute while the next call could be for a £500,000 deal with a
multi-national business.
“People we employ have to be able to cope with the pressures
that these situations bring and deal with each customer in an
equally considered and professional manner.”
The business has exciting plans to use the space afforded by its
larger offices to create its own training academy. This will not
just boost its in house performance but offer a tailored service to
the sales teams of its client base by educating the sales forces in
leasing options.
The new £1m headquarters will allow the business to extend its
operations to more major cities across the UK and create even more
jobs opportunities in south Wales.
The business is also forging ahead with the roll out of a
completely new business, Henry Howard Direct. The subsidiary of the
PLC will operate by generating new business directly from existing
clients rather than through intermediaries.
Crook said: “This is something which has been under
consideration for a while but we have just not had the time, until
now, to put into operation. We currently have some 12,500 live
deals, people who have agreements with us but we’re not even
canvassing them to see if there are any additional pieces of
equipment they need finance to lease. ”This, Crook says, will all
change with the launch of the new venture, Henry Howard Direct,
which is looking to write £5m of new business in its first
year.
Henry Howard Finance was recently recognised as one of the
UK’s fastest growing privately owned companies in the 2008 Real
Business/LDC Hot 100 league table. The Real Business/LDC Hot
100 Survey – which has been running for more than a decade – tracks
the fastest-growing firms by sales over the preceding four
years.
Henry Howard Finance is also placed 21st in the Sunday Times
Fast Track 100 which lists Britain’s fastest growing
companies.
Henry Howard Finance, which is at the vanguard of the growth of
asset finance as a sub sector of the financial services sector in
Wales, also won service supplier of the year award in 2006 from the
Costcutter convenience store chain.
Crook said: “The decision to base our business in Wales was a
natural choice from a purely business stand point. There are a
multitude of positive business advantages gained by locating in
south Wales.
Availability of staff, the infrastructure, communications,
accessibility and the world class office accommodation are just a
few.
“Communication to our key markets, in London and the Midlands
via the M4/M5 and M50, is a doddle from where we are and the
quality of life in Wales is unsurpassed.”
For further details on Financial Services in Wales, contact:
Martin Swain, Business Development Manager, International Business
Wales,Welsh Assembly Government
● Tel:+44(0) 29 2044 2231
● Mobile: 07733 106894
● Email: martin.swain@wales.gsi.gov.uk
