Oxygen gets breathing space in Oldham

A FINANCE company has taken up office space a 155-year-old Oldham mill as bids to expand its client base in the North and Scotland.

Oxygen Finance, based in the heart of the City of London just metres from the Gherkin, is setting up a base at Earl Business Centre with 10 staff.

The compan specialises in tackling the issue of late payment of invoices, which is high on the agenda for small businesses nationally.

Oxygen client solutions director Simon Whittle said: “We currently work with a number of local authority clients in the North of the country and until now had several employees working remotely to manage those relationships.

“As Oxygen continues to grow, it makes sense to establish a base in the North and as Oldham Council were our first client, it seemed natural for us to reinforce our commitment to Oldham by sourcing our new premises via the Council.

“The office works really well for us and gives us greater opportunities to expand further in the North.  We have employed three new members of staff locally since the start of the year and the new office will help us manage relationships with our existing Northern based clients more effectively.”

Oxygen is working with several local authorities across the country, including Oldham, Warrington and Barnsley, to deliver automated early payment programmes which enable the authority to generate a new source of revenue from their existing transactions.

At the same time, the early payment solution ensures suppliers are paid faster which improves cashflow and helps towards building stronger local economies.

Oldham Council was first public body to introduce an early payment scheme via Oxygen Finance, and to date nearly 300 suppliers have signed up. Since its inception approximately £75m of payments to suppliers have been accelerated.

Oxygen Finance chief executive Roberto Moretti said: “Late payments to local suppliers have a real impact on business communities, and we believe that local authorities are in a unique position to help the situation by accelerating payments and ensuring their suppliers maintain a solid cashflow.

“We’ve already had huge success working with forward-thinking councils like Oldham, and we have now set up our new HQ there which will enable us to reach out to other large organisations in the North of the UK, to work with them to quicken payments to suppliers and to create a new income stream in the process.”