INDEPENDENT Chester-based finance group, The Funding Corporation Limited (TFC), is celebrating after recently renewing its banking facility for two years, securing its future as a specialist motor finance provider.
This success is a positive step for the Chester group as the two year facility, arranged with corporate lender Barclays Capital, is the longest ever agreed in the group’s history. This means that on the Chester Business Park alone, around 150 jobs have been secured, a ray of light for one of the North West's biggest centres for the Financial Services Industry. This stability could be a sign that things are starting to look up again for the Financial Services Industry across the region.
A further 100 jobs have also been secured at the group’s eight ACF Car Finance dealerships throughout the country. The dealerships specialise in helping customers with poor or no credit history to buy the quality used car of their choice at a repayment level to suit their individual circumstances and budget.
With the after-effects of the recession still being felt, and a loss of confidence in the Financial Services Industry, the news that TFC and ACF Car Finance have managed to survive the damage to the Finance Sector will bring hope to numerous businesses in the North West region.
TFC puts its success down to streamlining its business to focus primarily on ACF Car Finance after exiting non-core businesses and reducing its overhead base by 50% over the past three years.
Managing Director, David Challinor, believes that this success is testament to the hard work of the group's employees and is a positive step for the future of the region:
“It’s great news for our employees who have worked tirelessly to get the company to where it is today and in attaining our recent success. The Financial Services Industry is at the heart of Chester commerce so I'm of course delighted that this success will secure jobs and have a tangible effect on employees. This success also shows that the Finance Sector is becoming more stable and ultimately will have positive repercussions on the region.”
Both TFC and ACF Car Finance are now looking forward to an exciting future. As the only major company within the sub-prime car retail market, ACF Car Finance can continue to supply a wide range of quality vehicles to the growing number of customers with poor or no credit history, throughout the country.
David Challinor concludes: “2010 will be an exciting year for both TFC and ACF Car Finance and we are now looking forward to the future by recruiting for a number of new roles across the group. By growing in a planned and controlled way, our success is not only achievable but is also sustainable.”
