- 09 Mar
My Catch Up With Ant Persse The CEO At Optimum Finance
Recently, I had the pleasure of a catch-up session with Ant Persse, the CEO of Optimum Finance. Optimum, a leading firm of independent invoice financiers have led the way in some aspects of their finance offerings.
Optimum Finance Quote In 60 Seconds
Previously, Optimum launched an app for prospective customers that delivers a quote in just 60 seconds. FundInvoice were the first brokerage to have this embedded into their website.
Recent Changes And Developments At Optimum Finance
Optimum have increased their maximum facility limit to £2M, meaning that they can handle multi-million-pound turnover businesses now. Some heavyweight names have been added to their ranks. Philip King, the former Small Business Commissioner has joined their board as a non-exec director.
Gordon McIntosh an ex-Microsoft Global Director has joined as CTO (Chief Technology Officer). Under his stewardship, Optimum have expanded their technology team and made some dramatic advances within their business. Vicky Williams, Optimum's new CFO has joined the team from Propel Finance and already making a massive impact in terms of supporting the company with taking a more data-led approach to delivery. Jo Maniatt, a seasoned marketing professional has been welcomed as Marketing Director to drive the awareness of the business, products and the industry.
Process Automation
Their business processes are under continued enhancement with the aim of removing unnecessary manual intervention for both the team and its valued clients, the aim is to drive automation as much as possible. This includes leveraging cloud accounting and open banking technologies and enhanced process delivery through API technologies.
Simple Small Business Financing
Optimum is all about removing the hassle of arranging finance. Another new development is their simple offering for smaller businesses. This new innovative product allows a funding line to be set up for small businesses without the need for underwriting and credit committees. The product simply requires positive answers to just 5 questions to secure an invoice finance facility of up to £50K. The pricing for this service is similarly straightforward. It is a simple, all-inclusive monthly fee based on a minimum 3 month contract period.
HMRC Arrears Mediation
Some UK businesses have emerged from the pandemic carrying more HMRC arrears than they can afford to pay, Optimum Finance has responded by arranging a specialist mediator to help set up a time to pay arrangements for their clients. This has been successfully completed for a number of clients and it could be a useful additional service for anyone that needs to get a TTP arrangement agreed with HMRC. The idea of a specialist that can mediate such arrangements will take the pressure off of company directors that are worried about mounting tax arrears.
Future Updates From Optimum Finance
Optimum are set to launch new market-leading solutions, these are currently in test, but Ant and the team are extremely excited about them. He assures me we will know more in the coming months.
Overall, Optimum Finance has continued to innovate within the UK invoice finance sector. There is a lot more that we can expect from Optimum this year, so please watch this space for future updates.