One year on: Assetz Capital and Royal Bank of Scotland (Part 2)
How do you reconcile the different management styles, procedures and corporate attitudes of a small and a large company?
The senior founding team of Assetz Capital is made up of experienced financial experts who have all worked in or with large corporations for many years, so they understand how big businesses work. Having said that, every person and team leader is different, so working closely with those leading the project has been vital.
With numerous people in the chain of command, it was vital to make sure weekly conference calls were maintained in the run up to the agreement. Regional managers also have an ongoing dialogue with counterparts to maintain relationships following an initial introduction and training session to understand what each other could provide, and how it would work efficiently.
What has worked well and what has been more challenging?
The initial due diligence worked really well. The founders of Assetz Capital have created a professional lending business with the proper controls and measures to protect investors from excessive risk and borrowers from excessive debt. RBS found it easy to understand the business and the controls in place.
For a Relationship Manager (RM) at any bank, the concept of directing a customer to a different lender is a new one. Therefore the challenge for RBS was to properly communicate the benefits of the partnership for everyone concerned.
How do you communicate? Do you have regular meetings?
Geographical differences often make meetings challenging, and travelling to Manchester/London/Edinburgh isn't always viable, which is where technology helps; regular video conferences play a large part in each party being kept up to date on the other’s plans and activities.
At a strategic level, Andrew Holgate and Alastair Hutt (RBS Head of Partnerships) speak on a very regular basis about the relationship and how to improve it, whether this be in a face-to-face meeting, or a scheduled conference or video call. Andrew was even invited to speak to RBS board members on their Sustainable Banking Committee about alternative finance and how the Bank can do more. In attendance was Sir Howard Davies, the Chairman of RBS.
At an operational level, senior managers in both businesses speak frequently about referrals and how they should be dealt with. Assetz Capital provides the Bank with a data pack on all the referrals. This data pack is an anonymised document of top-line information based on an agreed loan facility. This is created for all RBS customers that have been successfully referred to Assetz Capital for a loan. At a customer level, the Bank’s RMs speak to Assetz Capital’s. There is fully integrated communication.
And what does RBS think so far?
Alison Rose, Chief Executive of Commercial and Private Banking at RBS, noted: “There are more than five million businesses in the UK and over 99% of them are SMEs. These small companies are driving the economic recovery, so it’s vitally important they are given the opportunity to grow. Sometimes we are not able to provide companies with the finance they need, but working with alternative lenders like Assetz Capital means we can still offer them other options for funding and growth.”
Applying for an Assetz Capital loan
Assetz Capital has worked with hundreds of businesses and lent more than £80 million to growing, ambitious and creditworthy firms across the UK. With the RBS agreement and other vital components, the platform makes hundreds of millions of pounds available to SMEs.
Of course, there are credit checks and application processes to go through, but applying for funding can be much quicker than through the traditional routes. Assetz Capital has the ability to look at a business in isolation, without any preconceptions.
Click here to find out more about the breadth of products and services Assetz Capital can offer businesses.
- February 26, 2016