Talking Trends November 2020

This blog forms part of a series where we discuss common themes and trends that have been identified over the previous month.

Positive

• There has been a marked increase in demand from companies that are new to Invoice Finance, from both early-stage & more mature businesses. This bucks the trend of the wider (full book) invoice finance market which has been static for years.

• Companies which have previously used Invoice Finance, seeking a more flexible, short term solution to fund a specific customer or contract.

• Increase in enquiries from current users of Invoice Finance where the existing provider is restricting funding due to concentration risk or export exposure – i.e. looking for a ‘top up’ facility from us to run alongside existing Invoice Finance facilities.

• 🇮🇪 Increase in enquiries from clients seeking larger funding lines (€250k+).

• Industry sectors remain well spread but slight uplift in requests from professional services.

• Industry sectors remain spread in terms of sectors but leaning towards food & beverage and Technology.

• Strong pipeline of SMEs looking for export funding with a particular focus on the US market.

• Increase in import/export industry approaches for Invoice Finance.

• A noted uptick in incoming leads; the inference being that perhaps more SMBs are searching online for funding solutions.

• The SMB market seems to be more educated and therefore more open to alternative and Invoice Financing.

Neutral

• 🇬🇧🇮🇪Average facility sizes remain predominantly between €50k-€100k.

• No major Brexit concerns from majority of clients as they feel they are prepared in advance and have also started looking at alternative markets.

• Cashflow management is still a major concern but some of the government measures have eased some of this burden.

• Outside of the sectors that will be busy for the Christmas period, there is a general feeling that business is slow in the market and they don’t expect this to change until the new year.

Caution

• UK clients increase concerns around uncertainty of Brexit for exporters & lack of preparation commonplace.

• 🇬🇧🇮🇪 Cashflow management is an increasing challenge for SME’s, with key buyers extending terms it is a key reason for businesses approaching Accelerated Payment.

• 🇬🇧🇮🇪 Credit insurance risk appetite tightening – larger companies in those sectors hit by Covid (airlines and retail) that previously had been approved are not reduced or rejected.

• 🇬🇧🇮🇪 Debtor payments have slowed due to Covid-19 delays – our platform has seen terms increase by 9 days.

• 🇬🇧🇮🇪 Supply chains and ultimately the invoicing cycle continue to slow with reduced orders.

Contributors

Colm Devine

Hello I’m Colm Devine and I’m Head of Business Development at Accelerated Payments HQ in Ireland.  We set up our business to make it easier for SMEs to get access to the funds they need at critical points in their business. 

Guy Jones

Hi I’m Guy Jones and I head our UK team.  We’ve been funding the SME community since we started in 2017 and we’ve been able to supply funds throughout the Covid crisis.

Adam Pimentel

I’m Adam Pimentel and I head our Business Development team in Canada.  Based in Toronto, I’m here to help you get the best funding you can for your business.