Pulse Cashflow - 10 years on!
Celebrations as they deliver £1 billion of funding support to business
Life moves fast, especially with constant technological advances and inventions coming out every year. In the last decade, using an app to hail a ride, talking to smart speakers to turn on lights, play music, or read recipes are commonplace. Countless inventions created to make life easier for all.
It seems hard to believe that 10 years ago we weren’t able to pick up an iPad to research something, play some music, or do our online banking, because IPads didn’t exist; that teenagers didn’t have Instagram or Snapchat to while away the day and we used our arms instead of selfie sticks!
10 years is a long time. A lot may have been invented but creating something remarkable also takes time. One of the 1800’s most significant – and drama-inducing – engineering innovations, the Brooklyn Bridge took more than ten years to complete. And over 125 years later, the bridge still connects the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn, with traffic crossing over the East River daily with only a few modifications to the original design to allow for modern transportation.
The number 10 is also significant for myself and the team here at Pulse Cashflow because we are delighted to be celebrating our 10th year in business. Having completed a decade serving UK SMEs provides us with a great opportunity to pause and reflect on where we have come from, what we have achieved and where we are going.
Where it all started?
Having spent most of my financial career building up my skills and knowledge across both the banking and independent sector, it seemed natural that I would take my passion for the sector and venture out on my own. Pulse Cashflow was formed in 2009 from a small office in Basingstoke but with heaps of enthusiasm to create a business with a difference. Having ran Group and Divisional client and risk portfolios, I saw first-hand businesses who failed to get the funding they needed because they didn’t match the criteria of the day. My ambition was to help those businesses because I know that with hard work and robust processes it is possible to fund many businesses that more mainstream funders would decline.
So, we set about implementing a model where we encouraged our sales and operations teams to spend the time to get to know our prospective clients and to take each client on its own and work to provide a tailored, flexible and personal solution to support their business growth.
The support we received and continue to receive from our introducer network was fantastic. Quickly understanding what we were about and what our difference was, the leads came thick and fast. And here we are, with a lot of hard work in between, I can’t believe we have notched up 10 years in business!
What have we achieved?
We are proud of how far we have come. As we enter our 10th year in business we are celebrating:
- Having provided over £1 billion of funding to support our clients’ growth
- We have built up a loyal and dedicated team of over 30 passionate employees who work hard to give their clients a market leading service
- We have built a strong and loyal network of introducers who understand how we make a difference to their clients and who trust us to deliver upon their expectations
- Our first home was and still is in Basingstoke but we have grown our regional presence to cover the Midlands and the South East
- Our continuing growth has seen us relocate 3 times as we expand the team to service our clients
- Our leadership team has grown and we have over 110 years of Asset Based lending experience
- Our clients recognise the hard work we put into managing their account and reward us with their loyalty with our average client life of 2 years
Our growth has largely been fuelled by the growing demand for alternative finance and the increasing number of independent funders entering the market who work tirelessly hard to increase awareness and accessibility of this flexible and effective form of finance. At the end of December 2018, 40k UK businesses benefited from £22.7billion of funding from invoice finance – a 2.5% growth year on year demonstrating the value that it delivers to the UK economy and the role it will have on the financial landscape over the coming years.
We concentrate on being a specialist invoice financier providing cashflow solutions to UK businesses across a wide range of industry sectors experiencing a range of cashflow challenges to help them improve their cashflow and realise their business plans. We support Businesses trading with other businesses on credit terms where turnover is or predicted to be £300k in year 1 to firms turning over £15m. Our funding facilities suit businesses who are looking for support with funding growth; late payment issues; ensuring a consistent supply of working capital to cover business expenses; management buy-out / buy-in; or making timely creditor payments. With facilities up to £2.5m, we are confident of being able to support businesses with their future funding requirements.
I am also proud to be a female owner manager, which is uncommon in our industry and a topic that I am passionate about. Women in the workplace are a valuable resource and over the last decade we have seen many more women working their way up the corporate ladder as the workplace becomes a more flexible place. I am proud that three out of four people on our leadership team are female and have a strong track record in their respective fields.
It’s speed, flexibility and our people that make the difference
Speed is one of our USPs alongside creating tailored and innovative solutions that only an independent factor with a strong and experienced team can deliver.
However, it’s our knowledge and experience that makes the difference. We know the importance of having a great team and as such have invested in talented and experienced people which means that we understand the challenging situations that businesses can encounter helping us to deliver our clients a fast, transparent and flexible funding solution which best suits their business requirements. We have developed a reputation for our honesty and integrity and our hands-on partnerships with our clients and their advisors. Unlike most lenders, we keep things simple and make funding decisions based on the strength of the sales ledger and audit trail.
As one satisfied client Michael Mulvaney, MD, Proficient Security said “It was refreshing to do business with Pulse Cashflow Finance. They demonstrated belief in my business and committed to funding so that I can continue trading”.
What does the next decade hold for Pulse Cashflow?
So, as we toast the last decade, what does the next decade hold?
Our ambition is to broaden our reach to support a wider range of businesses in different sectors, from start-ups to larger businesses looking to grow. With funding facilities up to £2m, Pulse Cashflow aims to help even more SME’s get paid faster by releasing the cash tied up in unpaid invoices, so business owners can focus on realising their business plans.
We will continue to invest in our team ensuring we have the right people with the right service culture to support our ever-growing client base. Ensuring we understand how our clients’ business evolves is key to our future success as we strive to stay relevant and committed to meeting our clients’ expectations.
As we continue to grow, we want to show our support for those less fortunate than ourselves and bring positive things to their lives. As such we are proud to announce that we have committed to becoming a Corporate Sponsor of a young Charity - Kicking Off. We are keen to provide them with the help and support they need to reach their goals just as. We did when we were in our early years. Kicking Off supports children in some of the poorest communities in the world through sport, education, healthcare and the provision of clean water. The team at Pulse Cashflow are passionate about getting behind this charity to support their quest for donations, supporters and corporate sponsors. If anyone feels they can help then you can find out more here https://www.kickingoff.org
We are proud and passionate to continue supporting the future of UK SMEs as they work hard to grow their businesses. Invoice Finance is a fast and flexible source of working capital that grows as their business grows. Businesses can put this increased level of cashflow to work for their business – whether that be paying suppliers early, investing in more stock or machinery or hiring more sales staff to drive income.
We’re looking forward to continuing to support the SME market over the next decade. We have set ourselves a goal to hit an additional £2.75 billion of client turnover by the end of our second decade. To help us achieve this, we have exciting plans to invest in new products to ensure that our offering continues to evolve with our clients requirements whilst continuing to invest in the best team to ensure we deliver the service our clients expect which places flexibility, transparency and speed are at the core.
I would like to say a personal thank you to our clients – past, present and future for choosing us; our introducers and professionals who continue to support us, and the team here at Pulse Cashflow whose commitment and dedication to our clients is second to none.
Toni Dare
MD, Pulse Cashflow