Aycliffe Today Business Aycliffe Today Business Issue 36 | Page 7

The magazine for Aycliffe Business Park | 7
/NEWS
Andy Haldane, chief economist and
the executive director of monetary
analysis and statistics at the Bank of
England, chatted to companies from
Aycliffe Business Park.
/ADVICE
JARGON-BUSTING FOR
KNOWLEDGEABLE
LENDING
For every business that uses a broker
to source a funding solution, there are
many that approach lenders directly and
realise all too late that their loan has
brought with it unexpected charges and
responsibilities.
Bank of England chief
‘heartened’ after Aycliffe visit
A
senior figure
from the Bank of
England said he
was “heartened” by a
recent visit to Aycliffe
Business Park.
Andy Haldane, chief
economist and the
executive director of
monetary analysis and
statistics at the Bank
of England, chatted to
company representatives
during the visit, which
was organised by Aycliffe
Business Park Community
board member Chris
Hyde, while he also
visited Hitachi and Husqvarna.
Bank of England officials Mauricio Arnellini
and Andrew Hebden also took part in a
round-table discussion at the Xcel Centre.
Firms from automotive, manufacturing,
construction and professional services
sectors were represented, and subjects
covered interest rates, Brexit, the current
investment plans of businesses and wage
settlements.
“These trips around the country always
provide incredibly valuable insights to inform
our understanding of what’s happening
across the economy,” Haldane told Aycliffe
Today.
“The visit to Aycliffe Business Park, where
we held a really interesting round-table
with a range of businesses across several
sectors, covered many of the key topics
that we are focused on at present, from the
impact of Brexit on investment decisions
to the pressures in the labour market and
how these are feeding through to pay
settlements.
“We supplemented this valuable
discussion with two excellent visits to
large manufacturing plants on the park, at
Hitachi and Husqvarna, where we saw some
genuinely world-leading innovation being put
into practice at scale.
“It was heartening, informative and
enjoyable and I look forward to hearing more
about how these facilities develop further
over the coming years with the exciting plans
that both have in place.”
As well as Chris Hyde, the high-level
discussion included Sarah Slaven from
Business Durham, Stephen Carter from
Gestamp Tallent, Graham Currie from Ebac,
Neil O’Connor from Fleet Recruitment, Rod
Dales from Commercial Expert and Ben
Healey from Greystone Legal.
Slaven said: “It was a good example of
how Aycliffe Business Park Community
provides a voice for businesses on the park
to influence policy makers and raise the
profile of the fantastic businesses located
here.”
Ebac group financial director Graham
Currie added: “I found the event very
informative, with participants freely sharing
information around their current challenges
and concerns within the market place,
and I thought Andy came across as very
approachable, with a genuine interest in our
opinions.”
The obvious advice, to read the small
print, is easy right? Unfortunately not,
as some of the financial terminology
in that small print is either unknown or
not fully/misunderstood.
‘PG’ springs to mind, so commonly
used that you rarely see it
unabbreviated and therefore its
meaning is missed. In business, no
loan will be given on an unsecured
basis and so banks/alternative lenders
ask for a PG - personal guarantee - as
security. The possibility of your limited
company being unable to pay means
they require a legal agreement on who
would be liable for paying the debt.
It is important to understand every
clause within a personal guarantee, as
a lender will not hesitate to enforce
it if necessary. Seeking independent
advice will mean a PG that suits your
circumstances. For example, we hardly
ever need to use a ‘secured PG’ that
could result in you having to sell your
personal property.
We can also access lenders
comfortable with a ‘debenture’, giving
permission to seize the assets of the
company, as a satisfactory security
alternative to a PG.
Again a word you likely don’t know and
so don’t know to ask about. You would
be surprised at what assets the terms
of a debenture could include – from
stock and equipment to your company
website.
‘Soft assets’ (another jargon alert!
Think items easily moved away from
lenders) provide less guarantee, but
may be suitable depending on the size/
structure of you loan.
So don’t just read the small print –
understand it, question it, and use a
broker who can negotiate it.
Mike Coates,
Managing Director,
Commercial Expert
Commercialexpert.co.uk
@commexpertltd