Award winning business
When Jim Ponsonby left his job at a major bank in 1970 and moved from NSW to the rugged outback of Western Australia, he was simply looking for adventure.
He found more than that; a new life, a wife and a career path that would take him to the ownership of an award winning business.
Jim’s company, Bell Fire Equipment, won the Western Australian section of the 2006 Telstra Business Awards.
Bell Fire Equipment is based in the south-west regional hub of Bunbury where it manufactures and services a broad range of fire prevention and fire protection equipment and fittings. The company has a particular focus on bush fire fighting and on the industrial and mining sectors.
Jim and his wife Colleen grew the business from a small farm shed operation with just a handful of staff to an industry leader with more than 30 staff in three locations.
“The growth was a challenge,” says Jim, “but one of the challenges we addressed very early was the issue of cash flow.
“In this business we do a lot of work for some very large companies who just don’t want to know about normal 30-day trading terms. It’s often more like 60-days before they even look at an invoice, let alone pay it,” he says.
“That’s fine for them, and we appreciate their business, but we still have to pay our staff, our contractors and our suppliers.”
Jim wasn’t keen on his bank’s finance options and had been referred to Scottish Pacific but admits he wasn’t enthusiastic when he first heard about the practice of invoice discounting.
“I guess I didn’t understand the benefits at first, but once they came to see us I was convinced,” he says.
“Scottish Pacific pays up to 70% of the value of our invoices within a day or so of them being issued, which allows us to maintain a healthy cash flow and get on with growing this business.”
Jim says he looked at traditional types of finance such as bank overdraft but found the Scottish Pacific service cost-effective and far more flexible.
“The problem with the bank was that they only really offered overdraft facilities that were nothing more than an expensive loan. We don’t have any debt with our Scottish Pacific arrangement and everything we need is covered.
“They also give us a sense of security. Their service is so thorough and their audit structure is as good as anything we’ve seen,” he says.
“Most importantly, they took the trouble to understand our business.”
Bell Fire Equipment is a winner in the business stakes, thanks in part to Scottish Pacific.
|