Scottish Pacific Business Finance who have offices in Australia, New Zealand and China will see their UK headquarters headed by Scottish Pacific Tradeline, a subsidiary of the company. The firm does not have a marketplace or an opportunity for investors get involved and so is slightly outside our usual definition of alternative finance, however, it does provide SMEs with an alternative source of funding.
The supply chain finance firm has been providing working capital to SMEs since 1998 and the company’s move into the UK market is the first stage in globalising its trade offering. The initial focus will be on British companies that are sourcing products from overseas and it has funding lines exceeding $AU500m available to lend to SMEs.
Peter Langham, CEO at Scottish Pacific, said:
“I am delighted we are able to assist UK importers to effectively and efficiently fund their overseas purchases. In Ed Bracey we have a veteran of trade finance, who is able to walk through transactions with importers to help them achieve their aspirations.
“Through our China office we have established relationships with a number of Chinese manufacturers who have been able to upscale their businesses using the Tradeline product. The UK market is three times the size of Australia, and with our operation in London, we are in a strong position to capitalise on the demand from growing businesses looking to fund their overseas purchases.”
Ed Bracey who has been involved in the trade finance industry since 1986 will head the company’s dealings with UK SMEs and he added:
"Scottish Pacific Tradeline puts the focus back on our clients by offering a no-nonsense facility in a short time frame. To me this is refreshing and I'm looking forward to offering this service to UK clients, and expanding the business.”
Scottish Pacific Tradeline provides businesses with purchasing power to help them land stock and increase sales. It offers a smarter funding solution, with importers benefiting from a quick approval process and flexible terms.
Only a few weeks ago we saw AMP Credit Technologies enter the UK SME space. The company is a leading provider of advanced technology to small business lenders, originally operating in Hong Kong, Singapore and the Philippines.
Thomas DeLuca, CEO of AMP said:
“At AMP, we believe that the best way to address the small business credit gap is actually to empower banks and business service providers, which have the advantages of lower cost of capital, regulatory protections, extensive distribution and trusted customer relationships, to employ our alternative lending technologies for the benefit of their small business customers in a manner that is simple, clear and fully transparent to the borrowers. We differentiate from other providers by promoting equitable, transparent and trusted small business lending through banks and business service providers using a systemic approach, rather than seeking to disintermediate them.”
These early signs of overseas businesses making their way into the UK SME market just shows how much potential the space has and it wouldn’t be a surprise if more follow suit later in the year.
