Regardless of the size of a business, freeing up capital to grow is often a priority, especially for those businesses with ambitious expansion plans. The solution is often a supply chain finance (SCF) programme to help maximise working capital and kick start growth plans. Also known as supplier finance or reverse factoring, SCF is a set of solutions to optimise …
Financial Director: Cyber security – are you wasting your money or running a risk?
Cyber security is one of the biggest issues for all companies with reports claiming it costs organisations between $400bn (£279bn) and $500bn a year. How can FDs know whether they’re just a victim of ‘cyber security hype’ and paying more than they should out of fear, asks Ed Ainsworth, co-founder of 4C Associates. Read full article here.
The evolution of supply chain finance
Back in October 2012, the Prime Minister unveiled a new scheme aimed at helping smaller businesses secure affordable finance. The initiative received a wide range of support and leading companies, including Diageo, Kingfisher, Tesco and IBM all signed up. The popularity of the scheme and the fact it was driven by both public and private sector organisations, indicates the potential …
The CFOs’ role in leading the data revolution
The Big Data revolution presents a unique opportunity for all businesses and CFOs need to be at the heart of it. Big data has been described as being like teenage sex: everyone talks about it, nobody really knows how to do it, and everyone thinks everyone else is doing it, so everyone claims that they are doing it too. There are …
Balancing risk management with growth
Today’s CFOs find themselves in a position where they have to guard against an increasing number of threats, whilst driving business growth. The challenge for finance leaders is to successfully mitigate threats and ensure that tighter margins do not translate into a lack of preparedness. Predicting Black Swans Speaking on the issues which are currently affecting the oil business, Julian …
How to access funding
It is no secret that the economic landscape has made it difficult for businesses to secure investment. Banks are reluctant to loan money and as a result many companies are struggling to find the funds necessary for growth. There are, however, certain guidelines which will help businesses obtain capital from financial institutions.Realism Trumps OptimismTo secure funding from a bank it …