Mike Day

Debts factored – the total funded turnover of BFS clients in Scotland – grew by 12% to £382 million when compared with 2021 with funding advanced growing by 4%.

Mike Day, head of sales for BFS Scotland, said: “Our team in Scotland had an incredible year in 2022 and we’re already off to a flying start in terms of new business enquiries.

“We’re in growth mode and ready to support Scottish SMEs and their advisors with working capital and cashflow solutions. We’re now actively recruiting for sales roles to grow our funding further.”

Based in offices on Glasgow’s St Vincent Street, BFS’s sales team is responsible for supporting SMEs with cashflow and working capital solutions to support day-to-day trading, growth and expansion, overseas trade and more complex transactions such as mergers and acquisitions.

BFS’s recent SME Confidence Tracker survey, undertaken in February, found almost two-fifths of Scottish businesses (39%) don’t have the cashflow they need to operate effectively or grow.

Mr Day said: “With challenges such as inflation, supply chain disruption and the rising cost of borrowing continuing to hamper the growth of SMEs, we’re committed to doing what we can to help Scottish businesses survive, thrive and grow.

“We have a fantastic intermediary network of brokers, accountants, insolvency practitioners and advisors who we are working hand-in-hand with to boost our support.”

BFS supports nearly 8,500 SME clients globally through its invoice finance and asset finance solutions. In addition, its product range includes foreign exchange, export and trade finance, as well as specialist finance for the construction sector.

In October 2022, it announced its successful securitisation bringing its total funding capacity for SMEs to more than £1.2 billion.

Mr Day added: “Our team in Scotland is hugely experienced and we have both the product range and funding capacity to support an expansive range of situations.

“We look forward to working more closely with the intermediary community from the Lowlands to the Highlands over the coming months to improve outcomes for SMEs in 2023 and beyond.”