According to a recent press release the National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers (NACFB) have dropped the ball by appointing Andrew Bullard of Cashflow UK to their board.
According to the blurb “In his new position on the board, Andrew will now be representing commercial finance brokers and promoting invoice finance as a viable source of income for members of the association”
It further goes on to say “Andrew says: “Companies in the UK continue to face the challenge of securing finance through traditional routes and I look forward to championing the benefits of invoice finance to commercial brokers within the association.”
Cashflow UK is then described as “a leading finance brokerage specialising in factoring and invoice discounting and its team of financial experts is able to offer impartial advice and find your client the best provider to match their individual business needs.”
What of course the NACFB have omitted to say is that Cashflow UK is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bibby Factors which makes Andrew’s role as an independent advisor somewhat moot.
Most of the truly independent factoring brokers have always had a sense of unease that one of the major players in the broking market is actually owned by a factoring company but surely this latest step is taking things a bit too far
As a matter of interest Bibby won the “Factor and Discounter of the Year” award from NACFB just three weeks ago which is something that I guess the other factoring companies that were nominated might be smiling about now with the benefit of hindsight
An interesting development. I sense there are benefits to having a genuine broker on board within NACFB but as you say the lack of independence is an issue. I feel that as this is often not disclosed it could breed mistrust among NACFB members and patrons alike.
I am not sure this is a great move by NACFB and they would do well to address these valid concerns from the outset.
I have nothing against Bibby at all but appointing Andrew Bullard an Employee of a Bibby subsidiary to the board of NACFB is wrong.
What next RBS or Lloyd’s subsidiaries getting on the board I understand the need to get patrons to pay towards the aims of NACFB but this will lead to a weakening of NACFB