YORKSHIRE-based finance and marketing company ABL Business is expanding its operations north of the Border, opening an office in Glasgow, following a highly successful year of trading which saw a 300 per cent increase in turnover from 2014.
ABL Business (Scotland), will operate from West George Street and be headed up by an additional director, experienced commercial finance broker Robert Perrie. The firm helps SMEs grow by accessing commercial funding streams, and supporting marketing strategy and management.
ABL Scotland’s expansion comes after just under two years of trading in its current form following a merger between ABL Finance and Talk Direct Marketing which gave customers access to broader end-to-end support packages.
Alex Beardsley MCIM, director of ABL Business, said: “Over the past 12 months we have dealt with over 200 SME businesses across the UK and brokered £25 million in funding. Our business offer is now perfectly placed for the growing SME market across the UK, including Scotland, where we noticed that provision in the finance market was very limited.”
As well as SMEs accessing the services directly, the packages have already proved popular with funders with a presence in Scotland such as Lloyds, Ultimate Finance, Shawbrook Bank and Funding Circle.
Perrie said: “We identified a gap in the market in Scotland to provide services for firms operating in Glasgow and the Central Belt. Accessing finance is one of the most challenging aspects of business for SMEs and our research revealed that not all firms realise brokers exist and those that are aware of them don’t quite understand how they operate.
“Our message is that we’re different – ABL focuses on building relationships with clients. We have already secured a good client base as the opportunity to access all financial needs with one point of contact is appealing, not just to the SMEs themselves but also to the funders, as it adds value for their clients."
Perrie, whose financial experience spans spells working for Lloyds Banking Group, Aldermore Bank and Western Union, added: “As a provider of commercial finance, marketing and business support services to SMEs, we work directly with owner-managers to support them and understand that our support needs to be ongoing – we are here on the ground locally which helps build relationships.”
Director Andy Redman added: “We identified a niche as a commercial finance brokerage, but wanted to be sure we could provide Scottish clients with the same level of personal service for which we are known in Yorkshire. Under Robert’s guidance, the new branch will enable us to achieve this and offer Scottish SMEs one point of contact where they can access a full range of funding to enable them to grow.”
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