How a London clothing designer & manufacturer quickly accessed the vital funds required to cope with cashflow constraints principally caused by growing pains in their business which was doubling its annual revenue, whilst still maintaining their primary existing financial relationship.

ProblemA London clothing designer & manufacturer was experiencing high demand for their products from their large retail clients. Whilst awaiting payment for goods supplied, they needed access to additional funds to pay their own suppliers to further support their growth.

The company’s General Manager approached their existing financier for support against one of their client’s, but as credit insurance was unavailable at the time, the financier contacted John Blackmore, Director of Fifo Capital England, to see if help could be provided to their client without disrupting their own security and relationship.

Fifo Capital receives a lot of referrals from other finance companies and banks, that aren’t set up for all of their SME’s needs, but still want their clients to get the help they need. This is a gap we can fill and other financial institutions know that we’re not interested in poaching their clients.

SolutionWith the existing financier introduction, John Blackmore contacted the clothing designer & manufacturer and they met the following day to discuss options and the finance facility documentation.

Fifo Capital provides numerous finance options to our clients, with applications mostly completed and funded within 3-days, and within 24-hours for existing clients. Invoice financing or Invoice Factoring, is popular with our clients because it allows a business to trade in an outstanding invoice for much of its value upfront. We then collect payment from your client when it’s due (which helps you to stay on good terms with them whilst concentrating on more pressing needs) at which point you receive the rest of the funds less our predetermined fee. This allows business owners to respond to cash flow issues almost instantly.

This client’s General Manager is very hands-on with operational management—which suits us because we operate high touch relationships for the benefit of our clients—and helped drive a successful outcome. He immediately built a good rapport with John and then Hemal Patel, Business Partner at Fifo Capital, who became their dedicated Business Partner. Fifo Capital was promptly supplied with quality documentation to support the client’s application.

Once due diligence was completed and the documents were signed, funds were advanced to this client just three days after the first contact.

They were able to return to their financier 2-months later, once they were able to insure this particular debt. Fifo Capital has no long-term contracts and we’re happy to help businesses for as long as they need us.

This same client approached Hemal Patel at Fifo Capital again 3-months later, for support with a large buyer’s invoice with the Christmas sales peak in full swing. This then expanded to 2 more large clients of theirs who also had difficult sales terms that their financier couldn’t fund. Given our past relationship and prompt understanding of the financial risks involved – funding was provided within 24-hours.

Result“Fifo Capital has been our go-to financier in our hour of need, and without upsetting our existing financial relationship. Together with our existing financier, they have helped our business to double in size from £1.1m last year to £2m this year,” says their General Manager.

“What we have enjoyed most about the relationship is that they answer their phones, you know you are speaking with the decision makers so consequently they can deliver on their promises. I don’t have the same stresses I know other small businesses may experience through delays and not knowing where they stand,” he said.

You can have a great product that attracts great clients, but bigger clients—especially Publicly Listed Companies—often have tough trading terms. Achieving strong sales growth and delivering on commitments without cash flow interruptions can be difficult unless you have the right financial partners.

Thanks to their proactive financier, this client saw the opportunity in Fifo Capital’s alternative finance options and received their funds in a timely fashion. This allowed them to continue to build stronger relationships with their suppliers and service even larger orders from their clients.

It’s never too early to be aware of the available cash flow tools and knowing when to use them. To discuss your finance needs, talk to Fifo Capital about invoice factoring, small business loans, supply chain finance, and stock loans.

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