Bibby Financial Services (BFS) is a

multinational corporation A multinational company (MNC), also referred to as a multinational enterprise (MNE), a transnational enterprise (TNE), a transnational corporation (TNC), an international corporation or a stateless corporation with subtle but contrasting senses, i ...

that provides financial services to

small and medium-sized enterprises Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are businesses whose personnel and revenue numbers fall below certain limits. The abbreviation "SME" is used by international organizations such as the World Bank ...

(SMEs). The company is a subsidiary of the Liverpool-based Bibby Line Group, which was founded in 1807 by businessman, John Bibby (1775-1840). The group diversified into financial services, haulage, retail and private-equity-style investments in businesses in the 1980s. This helped it to survive and grow whilst local rivals, such as Cunard and White Star, disappeared or were swallowed up by others. Bibby Line Group, today headed by the sixth generation of the Bibby family, is a £1.2 billion business, and operates in more than 20 countries and employing over 4,500 people in industries including retail, offshore, financial services, distribution, shipping, marine based businesses and plant hire.

History

Bibby Financial Services was founded in 1982 during Sir Derek Bibby's chairmanship of the Bibby Line Group, a post he held from 1969 until 1992. For the first two years, BFS was operated from the Bibby Line Group accounts department, before becoming a separate business entity. The company has a regional office network with its headquarters located in

Banbury Banbury is a historic market town on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. It had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding area of north Oxfordshire ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

. BFS has a network of offices across

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and

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, including,

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the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

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and the UK. In 2020, BFS sold its North America business to Ecapital.

Services

BFS provides invoice finance, asset finance, trade finance and foreign exchange services to small and medium sized businesses across the world, helping them unlock money for a range of scenarios, including cash flow funding, new equipment purchase, growth and expansion, management buy-ins and buy-outs, and corporate restructuring. Globally, BFS supports more than 8,800 business customers across multiple industry sectors. The business operates in Europe and Asia.

Recent Developments

In 2013, the business had a turnover of £170m. In November 2015 BFS announced that it was committing over £770m in funding to UK SMEs following a successful refinancing deal. In September 2020, BFS appointed Jonathan Andrew as Global CEO. In October 2022, BFS announced its plans to launch a Marine Finance business to support the financing of ships and vessels as part of its new strategy. The

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

reported that BFS had secured a £1bn securitisation deal to boost SME lending in November 2022.

Covid-19

In responding to the Covid-19 pandemic, BFS restructured its business, including the sale of its North American business which helped reduce the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the financial arm as one of Liverpool’s oldest firms, new documents confirmed, which was reported by Business Live.

References

External links