APEM Ltd, an environmental consultancy
specialising in aerial surveys, has taken delivery of a new
£370,000 (€411,000) Vulcanair Observer aircraft, funded by RBS
asset finance arm Lombard.
The 10-year deal has been structured as a euro finance
agreement, meaning it will be transacted in euros from a euro
account held with the RBS group.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Access deeper industry intelligence
Experience unmatched clarity with a single platform that combines unique data, AI, and human expertise.
The sale was introduced by bank manager Iain Smith, who had
looked after APEM’s banking account with the RBS group, and
transacted by relationship manager Andrew Bailey from Lombard’s
Manchester Spinningfields office. Asset expertise was provided by
Christine Stevens and Ian Halliday, from Lombard’s Aviation
unit.
Bailey explained that due to the current strength of the Euro,
many UK-based RBS customers with income streams or current account
facilities denominated in Euros could draw an advantage from Euro
finance deals.
“The euro facility is drawn up on simple, easy to read documents
as with Lombard’s sterling agreements,” Bailey said.
“Since there is no direct debit system in the UK for the euro, a
standing order is usually used to make payment. Lombard will
usually accept invoices in euros from approved suppliers, and will
pay in euros in most circumstances.”
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 GlobalDataIn recent months, Lombard has written several such deals. In
one, it transacted a purchase for a number of cutting and metal
bending machines for another UK RBS Group customer, which produced
tools for the manufacture of drinks cartons and other folded
cardboard products.
This customer had a large number of euros in a savings account
and chose the euro finance method in order to remove some liability
in terms of exchange rate risk management. Euros were moved to a
current account when the standing order was due for payment.
Another Lombard customer bought a label printing machine in
order to fulfil a contract for the export of labels into Europe,
and financed it via a euro deal since customers were to be invoiced
in euros.
Since it had no other use for the currency, it was used to pay
for the machine, mitigating the risk of loss through exchange rate
fluctuations that would have been incurred through converting the
income stream to sterling.
These deals are a demonstration of Lombard’s close co-operation
with its parent group to find opportunities for the deployment of
asset finance. Bailey explained how, under RBS’ Customer Solutions
programme, staff at Lombard and RBS Invoice Finance were in contact
with business and commercial managers across the RBS and Natwest
brands to spot potential financing solutions for customers.
