Seneca Trade Partners

17/05/2023

Office is all ready for todays event. Should be a fun one.

21/03/2023

As a front-end stock funder, our business can be considered a barometer for the confidence that exists at any given time in the UK SME market. We are busy when UK SMEs are trading confidently and profitably, and we are quieter when trading conditions mean that UK SMEs put their stock purchasing plans on hold for a quarter or two.

Why are we so busy as the present time?

Well the OBR says the UK should avoid a recession even though overall growth in the UK economy will be very slow, and consumer confidence is holding up better than most commentators expected. Employment remains at records levels and UK consumers are still spending on essentials. This means that well managed UK SME’s are able to generate profits by working hard to source stock at sensible prices and get it into the UK market as quickly as possible for onward sale.

Changes in the container shipping marketplace are making a big impact too.

The main benchmark for shipping container cost is the Freightos Baltic index (FBX). This index measures the rates for shipping a 40 foot container (FEU) on the world’s 12 main shipping routes. The cost of an FEU has come down from more than $11,000 to $2,000, and is still falling.

Downward pressure on prices should continue as the orders placed for new ships during the pandemic begin to be delivered. The new container ship order book currently stands at 30% of existing tonnage, with the majority of deliveries due to take place within the next two years. The launch of these efficient new ships will represent an unprecedented period of growth in the global shipping container fleet and should keep prices down and reduce shipping times.

Goods are already beginning to get here more quickly, with the Ocean Timeliness Indicator (published by Flexport) reporting that the FEWB shipping route (Asia to Europe) now averages 76 days, a two-year low. Still above the sub 60-day times that were the norm pre-pandemic, but the trend is going the right way.

If you would like any more information regarding stock finance for UK SMEs, please contact anyone of our team. Contact details are available at www.senecatradepartners.com

02/03/2023

February has been a record month for us. For the first time ever we are in double-digit territory for deals completed in the month, with 10 new facilities equating to well over £1m of new funds out.

This has been a great effort from all of the team, and our CRM system is doing the heavy lifting in terms of on-boarding all these new clients quickly and efficiently.

March shows no sign of the momentum slowing, as the pipeline is stronger than ever.

Why is this happening? Well, despite the relentless doom and gloom of the mainstream media, the UK is still open for business and hardworking SME owners are making deals across all sectors. We are a nation of importers when it comes to physical goods, and it is in the SME space where the real work is done in terms of sourcing, moving, improving and selling goods.

We have been providing stock finance to SME’s for 7 years now and we understand what SME owners need from their stock financing provider in terms of making their transactions go smoothly.

We are also immensely privileged to have a large network of talented introducers who trust us with their valued SME clients. This network provides not just high-quality leads, but also invaluable guidance to businesses looking to take a stock finance product from us. Having the knowledge to discuss stock finance facilities makes a big difference when it comes to getting the right stock funding product for a business owner, quickly. And in trade and stock finance, speed is often a key requirement.

If you would like to better understand the solutions available for SMEs who require stock finance, then please get in touch. We can talk about it for days, simply hang up on us when you’ve heard enough, we won’t be offended!

Visit us at www.senecatradepartners.com

15/02/2023

19/10/2022

It’s tough out there for SME’s at the moment, no doubt about it. However, it’s not all doom and gloom for UK importers, as a welcome anti-inflationary trend is taking place.

The cost of shipping a container across one of the world’s oceans has finally dropped from the mid-pandemic highs. Prior to Covid the cost of moving a container across the Atlantic or Pacific was about £2,000. This cost rocketed to over £12,000 at the height of the pandemic (and even more in some cases where certainty of delivery date was required). These prices have now fallen back to around £4,000 and are continuing to fall.

This is clearly good news for UK importers, and it is one of the few costs that is seeing a negative trend. UK SME’s may be having to pay a higher price for their inbound goods than they would like, but the cost to bring the goods in to the UK has decreased substantially in recent months.

Remember, at Seneca we pay all freight costs on behalf of our clients if required. We also fund any type of goods from suppliers anywhere in the world. We are confident that we provide the UK’s most flexible trade and stock finance.

06/04/2022

Seneca HQ rooftop bar... opening soon.

13/01/2022

Can you believe that its 5 years since we started Seneca Trade Partners?

We can’t, but we’ve checked, and it really is.

In the past 5 years we have helped nearly 200 SME’s with stock finance, which in real terms means we have funded £43m of stock purchases on behalf of our clients. We’ve grown from a standing start to a revolving payment facilities book of £10m, and we’ve seen our flexible facilities work exactly as intended during the worst global pandemic in generations.

What’s more is that we feel like we are only just getting started. We are even more excited about the next 5 years than we were when we started the business. The UK SME space remains chronically underserved when it comes to genuinely flexible stock purchasing finance. We had high hopes for our new-to-market product when we started, but even these aspirations have been surpassed by the way our facilities performed during the worst stress test in living memory.

The quick-turn nature of our facilities helped our clients to trade out of their existing financed stock holdings before the worst of the lockdowns hit. They could then either bide their time before starting trading with their facility again whenever they chose to (we never charge non-utilisation fees), or they could instead pivot instantly to a new sector (PPE being the obvious one) and commence trading in that space.

The purchasing power provided by our 100% LTV stock finance facilities puts our clients right at the front of the queue when it comes to obtaining scarce stock from suppliers. The ability to pay in full prior to shipment often means our clients are first in line for stock when it comes to suppliers prioritising production.

The confidence that we obtained from not just surviving but growing through this period has given us an added push to get on with some major projects within our business. Projects that when completed will see us take a step change in size. We are investing heavily in our core IT systems with the goal of being able to put the real-time trading and accounting information that we see, in the hands of all our clients, and we are recruiting new team members around the country to give our introducers the option of dealing with a more local touch point.

The last 5 years have been great, we hope and expect that the next 5 will be even greater. We can’t wait.

25/08/2021

If you need quick access to funds to pay suppliers for goods, then you can apply for a stock purchasing facility from us online, via our website.

One of our team will contact you within 24 hours to discuss setting up your facility, giving you access to funds on demand with which you can pay any supplier anywhere in the world.

The power to pay whoever, whenever, and wherever gives you the power to trade on your own terms.

Level up your business with a stock purchasing facility from Seneca.
Apply online at www.senecatradepartners.com

09/06/2021

https://senecatradepartners.com/is-the-cost-of-goods-on-the-rise/

    Inflation, as measured by the UK’s consumer prices…

11/05/2021

https://senecatradepartners.com/rapid-growth-is-coming-does-your-business-have-the-stock-it-needs-to-capitalise-on-increased-consumer-spending-this-summer/

Rapid growth is coming, does your business have the…