Case Study

First Call .... was to Close Invoice Finance

David Mankelow is typical of the new breed of recruitment consultancy managing directors: eager, ambitious, highly skilled and dedicated to making a success of the business he has created.

Positive Cashflow
Having spent nine years in the industry he opened his own company - First Call Contract Services - at Waltham Cross less than six months ago. He set himself some impressive financial targets: a £500,000 turnover in the first year and a tripling of that in the second.

To achieve his goals this 28 year old entrepreneur realised from the outset he needed high quality, experienced recruitment consultants with proven track records (and he is always on the lookout for more to join the team already in place at First Call), and he had to dedicate himself to growing the business rather than chasing late payers and worrying about credit control matters. Furthermore, David Manke-low was fully aware he needed a positive cashflow if he was to succeed in the manner he desired.

Niche Market
So when the company was just weeks old he presented his business plan to Close Invoice Finance Limited, who liked what they saw: a positive identification of a niche market supplying temporary drivers and industrial staff to the warehousing and distribution industry in Hertfordshire and North London.

Having met all Close criteria, First Call Contract Services became a full factoring client, leaving them to look after the sales ledger and carry out all credit control activities, David Mankelow has been true to his word and taken the business client base to more than 50 with more than 300 temporary staff on the books.

Expand The Company
"We are certainly looking to factoring as a long-term finance option," he says.

"And I will need this on an on going basis if I am to expand the company in line with my forecasts; in fact factoring is a crucial element in the whole business plan."

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