It’s been quite a busy year with several small factoring companies either going bust or being taken over or both and with all existing factors finding it tough going.
I would imagine 2010 to see much of the same with one factoring company about to be taken over which I guess will be the first of several in the coming year.
However tough the market there never seems to be a shortage of people clamouring to get into it. Whilst some do it as they need to provide themselves with an income and they see the setting up and running a factoring company as the route to do that others have a genuine desire to be in the business. Santander comes into the latter category and with many of the country’s best loved names now part of the group one can hardly blame them even if they chose a most unusual way of doing so. There is also another new factoring company to be launched shortly which I have no doubt should be successful as there are no pressures there to take on business at all costs as seems to be the case with several of the more recent newcomers.
One of my hobby horses over the year has been the plethora of awards handed out to all and sundry with almost everyone being able to claim some sort of award for being the best factoring and discounting company of the year and as if to round off the year nicely a press release landed on the blog’s desk from Business Moneyfacts announcing a forthcoming event to “celebrate the best products and service in the business and commercial finance world”
The nominations for “Best Factoring & Invoice Discounting Provider” are:-
Absolute Invoice Finance
Bibby Financial Services
Close Invoice Finance Limited
Credit Agricole Commercial Finance
IGF Invoice Finance Limited
Venture Finance PLC
I have no idea who decides on the nominations or even how much they know about the marketplace but it always seems to be the same old companies that are nominated and the one thing that most have in common is their love of self promotion.
Of this year’s nominations Absolute Invoice Finance and their clients must have wondered if they would see out the end of the year as the previous parent Cattles were in such a parlous state whilst Close and Venture seem between them to be responsible for a disproportionate amount of the complaints that one regularly reads about on forums and blogs around the country.
IGF Invoice Finance is a company that has been top of many people’s lists of “who won’t be around this time next year” for the last two years and there are still mutterings in the marketplace about them.
That leaves just Bibby and what was Eurofactor and I freely admit that I don’t know much about the latter.
I wonder why these companies don’t approach me for a list of nominations 🙂
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So whats happening at IGF????
I hear that the entire sales force has been put on gardening leave!!
You’ve heard more than me then as all I know is that one or two non performing salesmen have been released
As part of the IGF sales team I can assure you we’re not on Gardening leave!
IGF have issued a rather curious press release complaining at the necessity of having to issue a denial of the rumour started above by “Ex Scottish Factor”
One has to wonder why on earth they felt it necessary to publish a rebuttal when the rumours have all but been denied by myself plus one of their own staff.
What makes it more curious is that this press release was issued to Business Money which as we know is mainly read by factoring personnel looking for another job and not on this blog which has a far higher profile in Google than Hello Money and judging by the response to various articles that have been written has a very high readership within the factoring industry
As a postscript to this item it amuses me to report that the Business Moneyfacts “Best Factoring & Invoice Discounting Provider” award was won by Close Invoice Finance.