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Ashley Commercial Finance

Invoice Finance Spices Up Profits for Fludd

Manchester based Fludd Ltd. turned to selective factoring when launching the business in January this year. The Fludd provides a range of spicy West Indian sauces to prisons under licence, following a Home Office directive that prisoners should be able to eat meals in keeping with their different ethnic backgrounds.

This week it was announced that traditional hot meals such as porridge are disappearing from the menus of many of Britain’s prisons. Ethnic meals such as halal meats and special spices and sauces are now being served.

The Fludd took advantage of financial help from small business invoice finance specialists Ashley Commercial Finance to get their business off the ground. The Fludd also has a lucrative deal with supermarket giant ASDA starting in May and this will add to their current and growing turnover of more than £10,000 a month.

The Fludd, which signifies being creative and having a flood of ideas, started out by obtaining a licence to sell the Vernon’s range of Sauces which were made popular when used at Vernon’s restaurant in Rusholme’s Curry Mile. Vernon’s specialised in Jamaican style “jerk” cooking which involves a blend of spices. Not long after opening the restaurant a call came from a local Prison who were looking for a supplier of West Indian foodstuffs. The call was answered and now the sauces are used in a growing number of Prisons across the north.

The Fludd have been awarded a listing from ASDA for May 15 and are gearing up to get the packaging, delivery and point of sales material ready for that venture. The Fludd are also selling sauce by the tonne into the Kebab industry and are developing new flavours for this market sector.

Sales and marketing manager, Peter Vernon said:

“Ashley was great and helped us to fund our supplies into the prisons. We were looking for finance but the bank’s rates were too high. We were told about selective factoring and Ashley had a very favourable rate. Ashley provided us with a cash injection and proved themselves to us. They were there for us and have a very flexible commercial model. Ashley looked after our interests from the start.”

The Fludd used selective factoring by choosing to fund specific invoices and not the whole sales ledger. In return Fludd receives money as soon as they invoice customers instead of waiting 30 to 90 days for payment. Selective factoring provided an instant injection of cash into the business, and with Ashley managing credit control, The Fludd could concentrate on growing their business instead of chasing unpaid invoices.

HMP Forest Bank in Salford, Greater Manchester was the first prison to use the Vernon’s range of Sauces.

Ends- 447 words.

Ashley Commercial Finance is a truly independent invoice factoring company, with no ties to banks or other financial institutions. Ashley provides invoice finance for the smaller business (including start ups and turnarounds) across England and Wales. Ashley has offices in Manchester, London, Leeds and Bristol. The company has almost 200 clients with turnovers between £50,000 and £1.5 million. They range from printers to road haulage companies, recruitment agencies to taxi firms, recycling companies to IT organisations.

Ashley provides ongoing finance for a business at up to 90% of the value of a client’s sales ledger, which, coupled with professional credit control makes invoice finance an attractive option for a growing business and a smarter alternative to an overdraft. As the facility is based on a percentage of turnover, the funding available grows with the business. Ashley’s independence and lack of bureaucracy means that funding can be in place for new clients to draw down within 24 hours of receiving sales invoices and at the lowest minimum fee. Full Online Account Access enables clients to obtain account information 24 hours a day.

Unlike many other invoice finance companies, Ashley allows clients to choose which accounts they factor, thus avoiding paying unnecessary factoring fees.

In response to client demand, Ashley launched an asset finance facility in June 2005. This is available for anything from computers, telephone systems and office equipment, through to company vehicles, yellow plant and machinery.

There is a great ‘step by step guide’ to invoice finance and more information about the company, which this year celebrates 10 years in business, at www.ashleyfinance.co.uk

Ashley Commercial Finance is a patron of the National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers (NACFB).

Press Contact: Jane Harrad-Roberts, Consultant Director, Marketing Projects Email: jane@marketingprojects.co.uk Mobile: +44 7785 395705 Tel: +44 1244 330000 Press hotline: +44 1244 330101

Fludd Contact: Peter Vernon, Sales and Marketing Manager, Fludd Email: Pete.Vernon@thefludd.co.uk Tel: 0871 226 0888

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