Use of Oyster Bay back-office system eliminates
paperwork-related delays and helps ‘boutique’ business expand.
Charles Wheeldon reports.
Go deeper with GlobalData
The
trend of robust growth among non-prime lenders has been further
confirmed this month, with news that family-run finance house
Billing Finance has doubled monthly lend totals in the past two
years.
Billing, specialising in near-prime
car finance for dealers and brokers, has increased its number of
live accounts from 1,500 to 4,300, and now holds a total book debt
of £30m.
Established in 1983 by James
Mackaness, and now led by his son Oliver, the Northampton-based
‘boutique’ business has 22 employees and completes all operations
in-house.
It specialises in financing
second-hand cars, with the average deal size being around
£4,000.
How well do you really know your competitors?
Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.
Thank you!
Your download email will arrive shortly
Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample
We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form
By GlobalDataIt also finances some vans and
motorbikes – and even some caravans, although this business is
strictly limited to the caravan park next door to its office, and
probably owes a lot to notions of good neighbourliness.
Billing writes business in England
and Wales and all its current deals are hire purchase. However, the
company used to offer lease and personal loans and the remainder of
this business is now winding through its books.
According to the younger Mackaness,
the company is eyeing up the Scottish market.
However, he confesses to misgivings
about its separate legal system, before declaring that “maybe” it
will start writing business north of the border some time next
year.
Commenting on the past two years of
expansion, Mackaness said a major factor had been its long-standing
relationship with Oyster Bay Systems.
Billing has worked with Oyster Bay
since the 1990s, graduating from the software provider’s
Fiscal system to its successor Vienna.
Mackaness said: “Because Vienna is
an end-to-end solution, applications move through underwriting
through to payouts and ‘make live’ straight into Vienna’s
back-office collection systems.
“This has eliminated
paperwork-related delays completely, and means that there is no
need to re-key any data.
“Increasing our market share has
led to a significant increase in the number of proposals we
receive.
“It is important our ever-growing network of brokers and dealers
can submit these deals electronically through workflows that
minimise human intervention as far as possible.”
