Soundbites

27-May-2009

John Richards - Chief executive, Mentor IMC Group

 

“Mentor IMC has experienced significant growth over the past three years. We have been fortunate to be backed by our bankers every step of the way during this process. Our working capital requirements are funded through a substantial facility with RBS, which we draw down upon as required. Even during the course of the last year, despite the shortage of credit globally, we have been able to secure additional funding on this facility to fund our continued expansion. We like to think that this is a result of our good credit history, quality client base and prudent management of our business.”

 

Andrew Pringle - Director, Circle Square Consulting

“We found it relatively easy to get credit from banks and providers. I think this is because we were transparent, supported our case with a strong business plan, and talked very openly about our plans and the issues we had encountered. As sales people it is easy to ‘sell the dream’. The people we met with were recruitment specialists, so by being very honest and involving the finance director, who is an experienced accountant, they warmed to us rather than felt they were being sold to. We met up with four providers, which introduced a feeling of competition and, let’s be honest, we all want to win a competition, as do the credit providers!”

 

Linda Showler - Director, Margaret Hodge Recruitment

“Although Margaret Hodge Recruitment is hardly a fledgling (after 33 years) in the position of raising initial credit, if ever we needed a glimmer of hope that these difficult business times are changing, it’s now. One light on the horizon is the banks’ use of the government guaranteed EFG (Enterprise Finance Guarantee) scheme to SMEs. The new scheme assists in encouraging banks to lend and can be used to support viable businesses with insufficient security. It seems that markets are starting to open up, with banks looking for the right opportunities to provide new borrowing to viable businesses. We appear to be at the starting point of a turnaround in the availability of credit.”