Q: Tell us how you heard about Simply Factoring Brokers?

Natalie: We had just opened our new office in Cwmbran. Phil Smith had heard we were opening. On our third day of trading he popped in to see if we had considered using a factoring company. I had previous experience of using a factoring company that didn’t end well so I explained my fears of using one again. However, I had the impression from Phil that a relationship with him and his company would be a supportive one, and that completely changed my mind. It was important that our funder would look aft er us every step of the way --which they have done.

Q: What was Simply Factoring Brokers able to offer your recruitment business?

Natalie: Phil talked through many options, but invoice factoring is all we require for a business of our size. When we scale, I have no doubt that we will need additional facilities. The back office facilities are particularly appealing as they would streamline our administration.

Q: Can you explain a little about the back office facility?

Natalie: As Phil explained, the back office facility would give us a complete system for managing timesheets, payroll and finance for each invoice that we raise. As temps complete each week in work, they log in to our back office system, submit their timesheets, which are then automatically forwarded to the correct contact for approval. Once approved by a line manager, the system creates the related invoice and submits it to both customer and funder and we will get an advance of up to 90% of the invoice within 24 hours. There is also no operation cost for the back office system, which is an obvious plus.

Q: So why didn’t you choose a full back office facility immediately?

Natalie: We are just breaking in to the temporary market so the back office facility is something we will use in the future. We are just not quite there yet.

Q: Are there any reasons apart from cash flow that convinced you to use Factoring?

Natalie: Phil from Simply Factoring explained that we are financing an expansion in to the temporary worker market without taking on debt. This gives us freedom to open new revenue streams with little risk to the business and without going cap in hand to a funder. As with all new businesses, we are looking to grow fast, but we also don’t want to spread ourselves too thinly. Most important is that our growth remains stable and that jobs we create within Rosato Recruitment are secure.

Q: Phil, Is Natalie’s predicament typical of your recruitment customers?

Phil: There is no such thing as a typical situation. As brokers, we oft en tailor finance packages to suit the needs of individual companies and sometimes use more than one funder to accommodate different needs within a business. Not all funders offer the same facilities as each other, and not all are as competitive as others are with certain products. Naturally, there are similarities in certain verticals, which is why many of our funders supply things like back office management systems along with their finance offering.

Q: Can you give me an example of a difficult situation where you secured funding from more than one lender for your customer? 

Phil: This oft en happens. We have some lenders that are very good on price for factoring services and as a leading broker, we get great offers because they value us as a source of leads. However, I recently had to secure an overdraft facility for a recruitment business that didn’t want a loan to accompany their invoice factoring agreement. The £100k overdraft would only cost the customer if they drew down from the available amount unlike a loan that would require immediate servicing. This allowed my customer to take their time when searching for new premises that would form part of their expansion.

SIMPLY FACTORING BROKERS LTD

For further information: www.simplyfactoringbrokers.co.uk/recruiter

Telephone: 0333 920 6880

Email: [email protected]