Corporate Vision Issue 8

20 CORPORATE VISION / Issue 8 2018 , Henry Howard Finance (HHF) assist companies to secure funding quickly and easily, to help businesses grow. We sat downwith a spokesperson from the firmwho kindly provided us with an insight into the successful finance providers. Henry Howard Finance . Exceptional growth. Exceptional people. Please give us a brief overview of your company, your clients and the services you offer? Henry Howard Finance Group (HHF) was established in 1996 by Mark Crook and Howard Ross, who had a shared vision to provide flexible and accessible finance to SMEs across the country. HHF has since grown to becoming one of the UK’s largest independent finance houses, helping more than 30,000 businesses across the UK to access finance from a range of different sources. We have three business divisions: • Asset Finance – our competitive rates and efficient approval processes support companies of all sizes and stages to acquire business assets such as vehicles, industrial machinery, printers, office refits, civil engineering and construction equipment. In fact, we can finance (or- refinance) any type of asset. • Vendor Finance – our vendor team works with business suppliers and service providers to offer their customers finance for their products. Suppliers can apply online for quick access to funds for their customers using our online tool, called HowApp, which can provide a personalised finance agreement decision online in just a few minutes. • Retail Finance - we specialise in assisting retailers of any size to finance new assets and shop fittings and are one of the largest independent providers of business finance for the convenience store sector in the UK. When undertaking a new project, what steps does your firm take to ensure the clients receive the best possible outcome? We understand that the financial needs of SMEs are ever- changing and differ from one business to the next. Through our customer-led approach, we ensure each of our clients receives a personal and bespoke service where our team can get under the skin of a business and work closely with the owners to ensure their funding needs are met. Offering businesses a 1806CV43 range of different funding options is a major focus of the service we provide, which means that we encourage our customers to consider different types of finance before making decisions about which best suits their requirements. What is your firm’s overall mission and what steps do you take to achieve this? Our mission is to ensure SMEs across the UK are provided with flexible finance deals that work for them; looking beyond those offered by traditional high street lenders such as banks. Keeping our finger on the pulse of the SME finance market, forming strong relationships with customers and continuing to challenge traditional funding models throughout our 20-plus year history has allowed us to help thousands of businesses to achieve their goals. What differentiates your firm from your competitors and marks you out as the best possible option for your clients? HHF’s flexible approach to finance and ability to secure funding for a variety of business needs, whether it be to purchase new equipment or to expand into new premises, means we can usually help people to get what they want. We are one of only three UK companies to partner with the British Business Bank (BBB), a government-owned but independently managed body set up to support growing SMEs. HHF agreed a £51 million asset finance deal that not only provided us with the ability to lend more capital quickly and easily to businesses, but it is also supported clients by removing some of the barriers to finance that usually exist with traditional lenders. As a commercial funder, we continuously look for new ways to expand our services and to make the funding process as simple and straightforward as possible for customers. One way in which we’ve achieved this is by developing ‘HowApp’, allowing vendors to set up effective finance packages tailored to their clients’ needs with just seven clicks of a button. This allows all types of businesses the opportunity to simplify and speed up the process of credit approval,