Optimum Finance reports another strong first half despite tough market difficulties
Optimum Finance, the invoice finance specialist, has reported another strong six-months as it continues in its quest to support the UK small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) community with the cashflow companies need to grow in the context of ongoing economic challenges.
Not only has the company continued to advance £100ms to UK SMEs, but it has also achieved a Net Promoter Score (NPS) to rival Tesla, evidencing a high level of satisfaction its clients have with its support and performance.
Invoice finance uses receivables (invoices) as the principal asset against which money can be raised. Optimum Finance pays its SME clients an agreed percentage of the invoice value as soon as it is submitted, driving access to liquidity at the point of invoice as opposed to needing to wait.
A crucial component of Optimum’s continued success has been its ability to mitigate and spread risk across an increasingly diverse client portfolio, from recruitment specialists to farmers, and even in some of the more challenging sectors.
Chief executive Ant Persse says that utilising the power of technology is helping the business to make smart decisions in who it supports, and how much money it can extend: “Investing in data has been a key priority for us this year, actively using open banking and AI to help us make smarter decisions, avoid bad debt and further enhance our customer’s experience,” he explains.
It’s an investment that is clearly paying off, Ant says, despite an increase in ‘real’ insolvencies: “Insolvency data is interesting to watch but has to be interpreted. Most of the ‘zombie’ companies that had been kept afloat by government intervention during the Pandemic have now finally disappeared, and the number of ‘real’ insolvencies is on the rise.
“We know that most of these businesses fail for the simple reason that they run out of cash, and our focus is on identifying those businesses that are fundamentally sound, and with a strong order book, but need the cash to help them stabilise and ultimately grow. That has been our focus in the first half of this year, and our performance in this context has been outstanding.”
Ant also warns that businesses need to be on the lookout for fraud: “Rising insolvency numbers are invariably accompanied by a rise in incidences of fraud, and that is another reason why our enhanced risk management systems are so important, helping ensure our money goes to those businesses that need it most.”
Ant is also delighted with its NPS: “They say that clients often come for the money and stay for the service, and this is especially true in our case. We have made significant advances in how we do business, the platform we use and the processes we follow, and these are reaping the rewards. We have also been actively meeting with clients and their leaderships teams, to better understand the challenges they face and how we can construct bespoke packages to help them grow,” he concludes.
