NORTH EAST lender High Street Boutique Finance has launched its innovative business finance service to the SME marketplace.

High Street Boutique Finance now provides business finance of up to £100,000 per annum to businesses from any industry.

Unlike larger financial institutions, High Street’s offering is fast, flexible and easily accessible; a simple ‘cash tap’ to turn on and off as the need arises.

This product has been designed primarily to service the SME market but there is no reason why the finance cannot be provided to much larger companies.

Upon receipt of a finance inquiry the deal will be underwritten and an offer issued within 24 hours.

Funds can be released within an hour of the agreement being signed. David Pill, senior underwriter for High Street Boutique Finance, says: “We are committed to delivering an excellent customer experience.

“We do not understand why banks take so long to make a lending decision. We have actually completed on several deals within a few hours of the enquiry being received.

“Furthermore, our product is a revolving credit facility and future finance requests can be processed within one hour.”

David continues: “We have provided finance facilities within a vast variety of firms including construction, furniture, retail, recruitment, software/IT and accountancy firms, to name just a few.”

High Street sees the business loan market as restrictive and launches their product at a time when businesses are finding it difficult to raise funding. Recent research undertaken by the Federation of Small Businesses showed that 57% of firms suffered late payment by clients but between 2007 and 2010 there was a 24% fall in successful loan applications.

More than half of small firms that applied for an overdraft and 43% applying for a loan for the first time last year were rejected.

Willi Thompson, business development manager for The High Street Group, explains: “We take a creative approach to SME finance and are trying to fill a gap in the funding market.

“Young, entrepreneurial companies in the North East are struggling because they can’t access credit to support them with everyday challenges, such as late payment by customers.

“Our finance can also assist with business growth by enabling companies to finance deals / projects they may have otherwise had to decline due to cash flow limitations.”

Opportunities for the North East’s SME firms to develop and prosper are often fraught because they are unaware of the funding available.

When asked what the best sources of funding for growing businesses was 35% of owners and managers cite venture capital and 23% business angels.

Yet, in practice, only 12% and 2% of businesses respectively actually manage to work with these financial partners.

This new product launch further enhances the services provided by The High Street Group to the North East business market.

The High Street Group also provide services within property development finance, business restructure, debt collection and tax debt management.

Contact High Street on 0191 211 4120 or visit www.hsbf.co.uk