- 08 Oct
Factoring & Commercial Finance Booms In The EU
Factoring and commercial finance volumes are booming in the European Union.
Factoring In Europe
A press release from the ABFA (Asset Based Finance Association - 15/05/17) references figures from he EU Federation For The Factoring & Commercial Finance Industry (EUF) which showed that factoring and commercial finance volumes, in the EU, grey by 6.2% in 2016 to over 1.5 trillion Euros, a huge number that outpaces the level of economic growth significantly.
These services provide much needed working capital to businesses across Europe with around 200 billion Euros provided in funding to over 180,000 european businesses.
Factoring is a form of working capital finance that releases the cash that is tied up in unpaid sales invoices. This money can be used to improve the cash flow of the company. A key benefit is that as you raise more invoices, so you receive more funding. In this way, the amount of finance that you can access grows in line with the growth of your business - a major advantage over traditional fixed value sources of funding, such as bank overdrafts and loans. This means it is an ideal form of funding if your business is growing quickly as fast growth can mean that you quickly outstrip traditional types of funding.
The other benefit with factoring is that you receive a credit control service to help you collect in your sales ledger. This means that you don't need to employ your own team of credit controllers, or undertake the invoice collection yourself. This can create both time and financial savings for a business that uses this kind of financial product.
Exporting to Europe & Beyond
There are also growing opportunites for UK businesses to export to Europe and globally. There is plenty of funding available in the UK to help you expand into overseas territories. Much of it can also be provided in conjunction with other support services, such as credit control. This can be helpful to a UK company that is exporting for the first time, as you may not have the language skills, and knowledge of local customs, to deal with invoice collection in foreign territories.
For more information see our help section with support for UK exporters: Export Factoring & Invoice Finance