Invoice finance for Sunderland suppliers, exporters and contractors

Funder introductions for Sunderland suppliers and exporters

Invoice Factoring arranges invoice finance for Sunderland manufacturers, exporters and contractors, finding a funder whose criteria suit each business's customers and terms. The funder provides the money and sets the facility, while we broker the arrangement.

Facilities worth asking about on Wearside

Established manufacturers that run their own credit control often ask about invoice discounting. Firms selling to buyers abroad can look at export factoring, and where one customer dominates the ledger, bad debt protection may cover an approved customer's insolvency, subject to its terms and limits.

Step by step with a broker

Send an enquiry online or by email. We review your aged debtors, customer contracts and payment terms, and approach a funder that fits. The funder then makes its own assessment and sets the advance, fees and conditions. We explain the offer line by line, and you decide whether to accept it.

Plain costs and an honest view on fit

Quotes are free and you are under no obligation. All charges, including minimum fees and notice periods, are set out in full, and if a funder is unlikely to accept your ledger, we will say so early. For tier one and tier two suppliers to the car plant, where payment runs can stretch well past the headline terms, the aim is to release cash tied up in approved invoices.

How do long supply-chain terms affect a Sunderland parts supplier?

They stretch the gap between delivering parts and being paid, so the supplier carries the cost of materials, wages and transport for longer. Nissan's plant, which opened in 1986 on the former Usworth airfield, is widely described as the UK's largest car plant. It sits at the top of a chain of tier one and tier two suppliers across Wearside.

A tier two firm usually sells to a tier one supplier rather than to the carmaker, and that customer sets the payment terms. A rise in orders can strain cash as much as a fall, because steel, resin or packaging is bought before any invoice exists.

Payment dates in these chains are often fixed by the customer's own payment run, such as the end of the month following the invoice month. A Sunderland supplier that invoices early in a month can therefore wait well beyond the headline term, and late paperwork or a wrong order number can push an invoice into the next run. A funder will also look closely at the customer contract, any rights of set-off and how rejected parts are credited back.

Where does business-to-business trade happen in the city?

It is spread across a few distinct areas, and each tends to bring a different mix of customers and payment habits.

The A19 corridor and the IAMP

The International Advanced Manufacturing Park is a joint project of Sunderland and South Tyneside councils on land next to the Nissan site. Envision AESC's battery gigafactory is on the park, and Turbine Business Park and Hillthorn Business Park are close by. Firms here often supply manufacturers against scheduled call-offs, which makes invoice values fairly predictable but ties them to one or two large customers.

Doxford, Pallion and the riverside estates

Doxford International Business Park, at the junction of the A19 and A690, is mainly offices with large occupiers. Pallion Industrial Estate sits on the south bank of the Wear near the Northern Spire Bridge. Sunderland Enterprise Park, Hylton Riverside and Southwick house engineering, trade and distribution firms that often invoice many smaller customers.

The city centre and the former Vaux site

City Hall and The Beam have brought council, public sector and office tenants to the riverside. Firms that supply services into them tend to face formal purchase order and approval steps before an invoice is paid.

Selling overseas through the Port of Sunderland

Overseas customers add distance, currency and longer collection times, and those are the points to settle before funding export invoices. The port is owned by Sunderland City Council and handles bulk, project and unitised cargo, including steel and woodpulp imports.

Firms shipping through the Wear or another North East port should ask which countries and currencies a funder accepts, and whether your shipping terms let you invoice on dispatch or only on delivery. Funders will usually expect a bill of lading or proof of delivery for each export invoice, and may set a separate limit for each overseas buyer.

Can contractors on the riverside schemes fund their applications?

Sometimes, but construction debts are treated more cautiously than product invoices, and retentions are rarely funded until they are released. The council-led Riverside Sunderland scheme on the former Vaux brewery site, which includes City Hall and The Beam, has brought regular work for contractors and specialist trades.

Building work is usually billed through applications for payment that are valued and certified later, with a retention held back. Some funders will not lend against applications at all. Others will fund certified valuations only. Ask how pay-less notices, disputed variations and retentions are handled before you sign anything.

A worked illustration for a Wearside fabricator

This is an illustration, not a quotation. A fabricator invoices a tier one customer £40,000 on 75-day terms. If a facility advanced 80% after assessment, £32,000 could be drawn, less any upfront fees. The balance, less charges, would follow once the customer paid. Real figures depend on the funder's assessment, the customer's credit standing and the written agreement.

A full invoice factoring facility would also pass collections to the funder. The useful comparison is the total cost against the alternatives, such as declining extra orders or delaying your own suppliers.

Which costs sit outside invoice finance?

Anything incurred before a valid invoice exists sits outside it. Tooling, part approval work, stock for a first production run and work in progress all need another source of funding. Disputed invoices, contra accounts and sales to connected companies are usually excluded too.

Concentration is a common issue for automotive suppliers in Sunderland. If one customer makes up most of the ledger, the funder may cap how much it will advance against that customer, whatever the size of the carmaker at the end of the chain.

Getting the paperwork together before you send it

An aged debtors report, your main customers' terms, recent management accounts and details of any existing lender security are enough to start. Note any overseas customers and any invoices for construction work.

Send these through the quote form or by email to info@invoicefactoring.org.uk. The areas served page lists other parts of the North East, and firms near the car plant may also find the Washington page useful.