Tuesday 15th Sep 2020
I said last month we’d do a monthly update on new business if the feedback was good, it was so here it is. All feedback is greatly appreciated, through the website or directly by email to john.atkinson@hitachicapital.co.uk
In these difficult and very odd times the months keep flying past a bit like the hour hand on a clock – not really seeming to move yet we are eight months down and now into the final third of the year. A bit like time things are starting to get back to normal but still a long way to go. Our current account, a snap shot of the amount of money advances to clients continues to be down on where we’d expect, however the assignments are getting back to normal levels – so this is great. I read on LinkedIn many brilliant stories of invoice finance businesses and individual BDM’s having record / brilliant months for new business – this is really great news. At Hitachi Capital we are breaking records too, this is fantastic. However I have to be honest and say that against our plan we are down – Covid 19 has impacted new business levels. That said there are lots of bright spots and reasons to be cheerful.
The economy is still very fragile and in intensive care, but one by one the Government is unplugging elements of the life support – VAT deferral, furlough scheme wind down, Coronavirus Business Interuption Loan (CBILS) ends in a few weeks, Bounce Bank Loans soon after that and then the furlough scheme also ends. This is a great opportunity to help business get on a longer term footing – read our other blog post on this here
New business in August – up 89% - amazing
It wasn’t a record month for us, but it still beat the previous August on all measures – so for us that is great progress. Deal numbers up by 9%, funding line (new advances) up by a whopping 89% - this is the trend we’ve been seeing through lockdown – lower number of deals than planned but larger sized deals. For us this shows that we are starting to pick-up – although as I said earlier we have a long way to go to be back at our expected levels.
Some key stats August 19 v August 20
- Our average turnaround time continues to reduce across the whole new business process – 12% than August last year as FLi our digital decisioning and onboarding tool continues top make a difference
- Lead flow – up 6% on last year. key driver was local introducer leads up also (67%) – as a result of improved speed of decision
- New business appointments increased
- Speed of deal conversion 12% faster than last year
- Average deal size up
- Total new funding lines up 87%
Why the great numbers? We are the natural choice!
Yes I know this is a sales pitch, but we really are very good and I do think that Hitachi Capital is a great place to be in uncertain times. Here are a few reasons for my thinking:-
- We’ve got a great brand and strong / large Japanese company behind us, gives reassurance in uncertain times (we’ll be around and can be relied upon). Also we’ve been around for almost 30 years doing this.
- Six month trial period, gives great peace of mind in these changing times
- No long one sided or complicated contracts, everything in easy to understand plain English with no hidden costs
- Brilliant award winning client service, 5 star Feefo reviews and Business Moneyfacts award wins in 2020
- Unique mix of great leading edge technology with old fashioned personal customer service (face to face, remote or telephone)
- Complete digital onboarding, the only provider to offer this- ensures we can start funding a new client within hours not weeks and days like others
