Standing Together
Changes at ABN AMRO herald an even closer relationship between the Dutch group and its UK commercial finance business, Venture Finance. This is good news for UK companies, as Managing Directors Luuc Mannaerts of ABN AMRO and Peter Ewen of Venture explain
In June 2011, Venture Finance’s parent company ABN AMRO announced an agreement to sell part of its Fortis Commercial Finance to international bank BNP Paribas Fortis. The agreement heralded a significant shift in focus for ABN AMRO. When the deal is completed in Ocotber, the Netherlands-based commercial finance arm will be part of the ABN AMRO Commercial Finance Group, which includes Venture Finance PLC in the UK and ABN AMRO Commercial Finance in Germany and France. Within this tighter focus, the group intends to concentrate on building on their reputation of leading players via a unified vision of providing service excellence to commercial finance clients across its “home and core” markets.
Demand for Invoice and Asset Based Lending solutions has been growing rapidly in the UK over the past few years, a trend accelerated by events in the wider banking market. Owned by ABN AMRO since 1992, Venture has established itself as one of the leading providers in this crucial marketplace. With Britain now central to ABN AMRO’s ambitions, Venture will play an important role in not only realising its parent company’s strategic ambitions but also expanding and improving its own range of services.
When Luuc Mannaerts, Managing Director of ABN AMRO Commercial Finance group met for discussions with Peter Ewen of Venture, Vfiles took the opportunity to ask both Managing Directors about ABN AMRO’s vision for the future and Venture’s role within that vision.
VFILES: Luuc, before we talk specifically about ABN AMRO’s relationship with Venture and your plans for the UK market, it would be good to talk about the thinking behind the sale of Fortis Commercial Finance. What were you setting out to do?
LUUC: We’re selling Fortis but retaining the Dutch business. Essentially, that change of focus will allow us to optimise our business in the countries that we’re in as a bank. That in turn will allow us to focus on our clients in those countries and provide a better service.
VFILES:
Will the new structure mean a greater focus on Invoice and Asset Based Lending (ABL)?
LUUC: The bank has changed a lot because of the split-up. The client-base of the bank is now very similar to that of Venture and ABN AMRO Commercial Finance. ABL collateralised finance will be a key growth area.
VFILES:
Turning to the UK, where does Venture sit within the restructured operation?
LUUC: ABN AMRO bought Venture in 1992. Ever since then, Venture has played an important role in the commercial finance business of ABN AMRO and it really has been a front-runner in the UK market. In that respect, Venture plays a very important part in our commercial finance operation.
PETER: And since 1992, ABN AMRO has been a brilliant parent company, giving us the support we need to provide UK businesses the financial confidence they need for stronger growth.
VFILES:
With the relationship between ABN AMRO Commercial Finance and Venture set to become closer still, what will this mean for clients in the UK?
LUUC: Well, if you look at the history of the relationship, ABN AMRO has always been committed to our commercial finance business. Throughout that time, we made sure we could service our clients and do business without interruption. That is something that we will certainly take forward.
PETER: A closer relationship with our parent company will mean we can offer a wider range of services to our clients and we already have many plans in the pipeline to provide added value to those our clients currently enjoy.
LUUC: In addition, we will see that we can benefit from each other’s experience. Venture has an enormous amount of experience in Invoice Discounting and ABL. Looking to the Netherlands, our colleagues there have enormous experience in servicing larger clients in multiple countries. We can greatly benefit from each other’s experience.
VFILES:
Service has always been an important part of the Venture ethos. Luuc, what is your impression of Venture’s approach to working with clients and is that an area where you see cross-fertilisation between the national businesses?
LUUC: I have been very impressed by the service level in Venture. People are very straightforward, client-focused and have service on their minds every day. That is fantastic and is fundamental in shaping what the client experiences and feels. We can learn a lot from Venture in our commercial finance group and take their experience and to other parts of the commercial finance group.
PETER: I think it’s important to say that Venture and ABN AMRO have always been aligned very closely when it comes to shared values of professionalism and ambition, and being a reliable partner for entrepreneurs.
LUUC: That’s an important point. Last year ABN AMRO launched its values, and that’s really about being a trusted partner to our clients and being professional and ambitious. As part of that, we did a culture scan to see where we stand on those values. Venture came out on top.
VFILES:
So are there any ambitions for commercial crossover between the operations in ABN AMRO core countries?
LUUC: Yes, of course. To take an example, the Dutch are famous for trading and our clients do a lot of business with the UK and Germany and France. I can see benefits in terms of serving our Dutch clients in the UK market.
VFILES:
The message seems to be that changes taking place within ABN AMRO Commercial Finance will have positive implications for Venture’s clients here in the UK and for Venture’s own ability to grow its business and innovate.
PETER: Yes, recent developments herald a positive new era for Venture ending rumours of uncertainty and providing clarity and direction for a really positive future. Ultimately the real winners of this alliance will be UK businesses as our ever increasing partnership with ABN AMRO will enable us to provide more services, opportunities and support to our clients.
VFILES:
Thank you very much.