CIF reports lending rise

INCREASING numbers of businesses are turning to alternative funding as a method of riding out the economic downturn, according to new figures from Manchester-based SME business funder, Cattles Invoice Finance.

CIF, which specialises in providing flexible financial solutions to small firms, recorded a 21.3% increase in completed transactions in the final quarter of 2008, writing 91 new deals compared to 75 in the same period of 2007.

The majority of the new facilities provided by CIF in quarter four of 2008 were factoring or invoice discounting services, allowing businesses to improve their cashflow and look to increase market share during the recession.

Doug Crawford, group managing director of CIF, explained: “Accessing credit in today’s financial climate has become an uphill struggle for a lot of businesses, particularly within the SME sector. 

“Lending criteria are very tight, and most traditional forms of financing have all but dried up.  However, this does not automatically mark the end of the road for growing and developing businesses.”