Access to all forms of finance, from straightforward term loans to short-term finance and invoice finance, has long been a problem for small to medium-sized businesses (SMEs).
For over 35 years, White Oak UK has specialised in helping SMEs and mid-sized corporates find the finance that they need.
As Derek Money, Head of Sales in White Oak UK’s Glasgow office, explains, White Oak UK has a total annual loan portfolio in excess of £600 million, across all types of lending. The company began life as LDF Group, based in Wales, in 1989, and grew to become one of the UK’s largest alternative providers of SME finance.
“It was acquired in 2018 by the US-based White Oak Global Advisors LLC (WOGA), a Securities and Exchange Commission-registered investment advisor. At that point, LDF Group rebranded to take on the White Oak UK name.
“We can truly say that we understand the unique challenges facing SMEs across whatever markets they are operating in,” Money says.
Becoming an affiliate of the US company brought with it access to significant pools of capital and an enhanced suite of financial products.
As Money explains, the Glasgow office, which opened in 2018, has long specialised in all types of asset financing for SMEs.
“When we became part of WOGA we benefitted from their experience in other financial products. LDF’s Wales Head Office moved to Chester, with offices in London as well as here in Glasgow, where the office is renowned for its asset finance expertise in particular.”
In recognition of this fact, White Oak UK is setting up the Glasgow office as the company’s centre of excellence in asset finance. The aim, as Money notes, is to recruit and train a new generation of asset finance specialists.
“Excellence is defined as the right people doing the right thing for the right clients. As we grow, putting the right people in place is a challenge. The pool of experienced asset finance specialists is largely comprised of a mature group. The banks and the alternative lenders in this field tend not to have trainees coming through and maturing into the business. So, we have taken the decision to train up a new generation of specialists ourselves.”
As Money notes, the Glasgow office has a very robust process that is applied to all applications. New trainees are taken through all aspects of finance origination and servicing.
“This process protects both us and our clients and ensures that the finance we provide are appropriate and will benefit the client.”
“We have taken great delight in bringing young people into our organisation in both front-office sales roles, and back-office support roles. One of the challenges we face in asset finance is that it is a complicated field, with lending taking place across a wide range of different types of assets. Right now we are looking to recruit four trainees, and this will take our headcount in the Glasgow office to 22.
Since November, the company has recruited over 40 new staff members, with a significant portion joining the team at the Chester headquarters. This recruitment drive reflects White Oak UK’s continued expansion and commitment to investing in talent and local communities.
One of the factors that makes asset financing a complex field for newcomers, for example, is the need to determine both the actual value of the asset and to judge what the remaining or residual value will be at the end of the term.
Money points out that one of the factors that makes White Oak sought after as a lender to SMEs is the speed and efficiency of its response to requests from business owners. The ability to react quickly comes down to having both deep expertise and strong operational processes so that applications can be evaluated rapidly.
White Oak UK has built up considerable experience in training new staff members. The Chester Head Office runs an internship programme in conjunction with a local university.
“We take on four interns a year as part of this programme. They are on contract with us for that year and it has been a really valuable exercise both for us and for the interns. It allows potential recruits to come and find the right role that matches their skill sets. They are given experience in sales, in credit evaluation and in back-office processes,” he comments.
Although the Glasgow office has deep expertise in asset finance, Money points out that the office aims to be a one-stop-shop for all a client’s requirements, including short and long-term loan financing and invoice finance.
“We have anywhere from 4,000 to 5,000 SME clients active with us and we provide finance across our complete product portfolio. What differentiates us is that we can act as both a principal lender in our own right, as well as a broker.
We will provide our own funds up to a level that we feel comfortable with and have the ability to work with a suite of lenders to fulfil larger requirements. For example, if a company wants to finance a hundred vehicles, we might finance 50 of those ourselves and approach our external panel to arrange financing for the remainder,” he comments.
This again makes it possible for White Oak UK to be the perfect one-stop-shop partner for SMEs across the SME’s funding requirements.
