Case Studies

Case Study 1:

A Company in Exeter with a long history and good client base had run into difficulties. The bank was supportive to a degree but the account had been transferred to “special measures”. The business was struggling to recover and was being starved of cash. The bank could not extend more facilities and frequent returned direct debits and bounced cheques were incurring massive fees and unauthorised overdraft charges.

After a short review we were satisfied that the business was not only fundamentally sound but had a great customer list and strong customer relationships. All our “one-off” agreements were put in place within a few days but there was a delay before we could actually start helping while the bank looked at its position. Clearly we couldn’t do anything without a debenture waiver from them.Once the waiver had been granted we moved very quickly and started buying invoices within a couple of days. We now hold more than £200k of high quality invoices at any one time and will continue to support the business for the foreseeable future.

The Company’s FD commented: “Catalyst IFG’s Single Invoice Factoring product has proved to be a really helpful and flexible solution giving us the breathing space we needed to tackle the internal issues. Without this it is hard to see how the business could have turned itself round. The fact that the facility is there only for as long as the business needs it means we have the flexibility to cut back and then stop using it as soon as we want to”.

Case Study 2:

A London based leather design and manufacturing company was contracted by Diageo to make a leather jacket for Johnnie Walker whisky bottles for the Christmas market. Diageo’s terms are strictly 60 days but the leather company had to pay its Spanish supplier in less than 30 days. The Company contacted IFG for help and within 5 working days of the first phone call we had completed our due diligence, received the necessary documents from the company and visited the company’s offices. The following day, £60,000 which was 90% of the outstanding invoice value, was in the client’s account.

Case Study 3:

A Northern Ireland distribution company needed funds to buy stock. Unfortunately the business had only one customer which meant IFG could not do a deal. However, we worked with the customer to help validate and credit check new potential customers and by agreeing credit limits in advance, we were able to move quickly once these customers came on stream. The initial invoice purchase transaction was for £105,000.

After the transaction, the company’s MD said: ‘This new form of financing was just what our company needed…the banks had refused to give us a loan even though we had customers knocking on the door “

For more information or to discuss your working capital finance needs, call Jeremy Lawrence at Catalyst IFG on 0845 528 0788.