NACFB reports huge increase in factoring

29/09/2008

Members of the National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers have seen a huge rise in demand for factoring and invoice discounting services. Adam Tyler, chief executive of the NACFB, says factoring stands out as an area that has withstood the recent economic turmoil.

Elsewhere, NACFB members experienced drop of almost 20% in commercial business from June 2007 to June 2008, due mainly to a poor performance in the commercial finance sector.

The factoring industry, however, appears to be going from strength to strength. Tyler explains: "One huge growth area has been factoring and invoice discounting. We have been more scientific about the way the figures have been collated this year, and the number of responses we have had has allowed the calculations to be more accurate in 2008 than in 2007 so I would suggest that part of this discrepancy can be accounted for by an under-reporting last year.

"However, I believe that it is no coincidence that in a contracted market brokers are having to diversify and invoice finance is one of the few areas which is still relatively unaffected by the downturn."