Invoice finance for Middlesbrough's industrial and digital firms

Matching Middlesbrough businesses with invoice funders

Invoice Factoring arranges invoice finance for Middlesbrough businesses, introducing each one to a funder suited to its customers and the way it bills. Invoice Factoring is a broker, so the funder provides the money and sets the advance, fees and terms.

Services matched to contract, port and studio work

Contractors serving process plants often start with invoice factoring, where the funder also handles collections. Firms selling abroad through the river's ports can look at export factoring, and a studio with one or two large clients may prefer selective invoice factoring for chosen invoices. With so much local work tied to the chemical and process sites along the Tees, we look closely at how purchase orders and timesheets support each invoice.

The route from enquiry to funder offer

Send an enquiry online or by email. We review your ledger, approach a suitable funder and leave it to make its own assessment. When an offer comes back, we explain the terms and you decide.

Commitments at quote stage

Your quote is free and comes with no obligation. Every cost is explained before you sign anything, and if a facility looks wrong for your business, we will tell you plainly.

Working for process plants along the Tees

Teesside is home to one of the UK's main chemical and process clusters. Wilton International, on the south bank of the river, was opened by ICI in 1949 and still houses chemical and energy operations. Smaller firms in Middlesbrough supply sites like it with maintenance, inspection, scaffolding, electrical work, specialist labour and spare parts.

Large operators normally set their own payment terms and invoicing systems. An invoice may need to match a purchase order, a service entry sheet or an approved timesheet before it is paid, and a small error can push it into the next payment run. Funders generally advance only once an invoice has cleared those checks.

Shutdowns and turnarounds

Planned plant shutdowns bring short bursts of intense work. A contractor's wage bill jumps at once, while payment follows weeks later. A facility linked to the sales ledger can grow with that peak, provided the timesheets and approvals behind each invoice are in order.

Contract work at Teesworks

Teesworks, the former Redcar steelworks site, is being cleared and redeveloped for new industry as part of the Teesside Freeport. Demolition, groundworks, civil engineering and construction contracts there draw on firms from across the area.

Construction-style contracts raise their own issues. Payment often follows an application and certification process, and part of each payment may be held back as a retention until completion or later. Many funders treat applications for payment and retentions differently from ordinary invoices, and some will not fund them at all. Check how your contract describes payment before assuming it can be financed.

Questions to settle before relying on contract income

• Is the amount due set by your invoice or by a certificate from the main contractor?
• How much is retained, and when is it released?
• Does the contract allow the main contractor to set off claims against what it owes?
• Can the debt be assigned to a funder without the main contractor's consent?

Middlesbrough subcontractors working two or three tiers down the chain should ask these questions early, since the answers decide how much of the work can be funded.

Shipping through Teesport and the river

Teesport, run by PD Ports, is one of the UK's larger ports, and the Port of Middlesbrough operates from Riverside Park beside the Tees. Manufacturers and traders using these routes may sell to buyers overseas, where payment terms are often longer and collection is harder.

Export factoring can fund invoices to overseas customers and may include collection support in the buyer's country and currency. A funder will want to know where your customers are based, which currency you invoice in and which law governs the contract. Middlesbrough exporters invoicing in euros or dollars should also think about exchange rate movements between invoice and payment, which a facility does not remove.

Can a Boho Zone studio use invoice finance?

Sometimes, if it invoices other businesses for delivered work. The Boho Zone in Middlesbrough houses games, software and creative firms, and Teesside University trains many of the digital graduates they recruit.

Studios often work for publishers or clients on milestone payments. A funder can usually advance against an invoice for an accepted milestone, but not against future milestones or work in progress. Written acceptance from the client makes each milestone invoice far easier to fund. Income from app stores, royalties or subscriptions is generally unsuitable.

Relying on a few big customers

Many Middlesbrough suppliers depend heavily on a handful of accounts. Funders may cap how much they will advance against any single customer, which limits the funding available. It also means one customer failing could hurt the business badly. A funder will look at how promptly each of those customers has paid in the past, and whether any of their invoices are regularly disputed.

Bad debt protection can be added to some facilities to cover approved customers against insolvency, within agreed limits and exclusions. It does not cover disputes about the quality of your work, so keep sign-offs and delivery records in order.

What a facility costs and commits you to

Costs vary between funders and depend on the assessment. Most facilities combine a service or administration fee with a discount charge on the money advanced, and some add charges for credit checks, audits or early exit. Ask for every fee in writing and work out the total over a typical year.

Read the commitment as well as the price. Many agreements have a minimum term and a notice period, and the funder may take security over the business, sometimes with personal guarantees from directors. Before a Middlesbrough business signs, it is sensible to have an accountant or solicitor review the agreement, especially if other lenders already hold security.

Next steps for a Middlesbrough enquiry

Send a short outline: what you supply, your turnover, your main customers and their terms, whether you sell abroad, and a recent aged debtors report if you have one. If you are unsure which service fits, describe the cash flow problem instead. Use the enquiry form or email info@invoicefactoring.org.uk.

Other Tees Valley towns, including Stockton-on-Tees, are listed on the areas served page.