GE Capital announced that it agreed to provide Swift Group Ltd, the UK's leading manufacturer of caravans, motorhomes and holiday homes, with a distribution finance facility that will provide the company with an estimated £30 million of dealer stocking funds in 2010.
“Providing adequate stock funding to our dealer networks is a vital cog in the retail chain, enabling dealers to display and therefore sell more of our products. GE's support for Swift and the UK market is great news and will help the industry move out of recession more quickly”
The agreement generates tangible benefits for both Swift and its extensive UK dealer network. Swift Group itself will benefit from guaranteed payment for shipped caravans and motorhomes enabling the organisation to focus on designing, manufacturing and selling it's market leading products. Meanwhile, the extended terms provided by the GE Capital programme provide dealers in the Swift network with the flexibility they need to display product on site until it is sold onto end customers.
The facility is expected to finance volumes approaching £30 million in 2010 with volumes anticipated to exceed £60 million in 2011.
"Providing adequate stock funding to our dealer networks is a vital cog in the retail chain, enabling dealers to display and therefore sell more of our products. GE's support for Swift and the UK market is great news and will help the industry move out of recession more quickly," Nick Page, Commercial Director of Swift Group commented.
The agreement sees an extension of GE Capital's support of the UK's recreational vehicle manufacturers, which has seen the company provide over $200 million of funding over the last three years, equating to more than 10,000 caravans, motor homes and static homes.
Maarten Endel, Industry Leader for Recreational Vehicles at GE Capital's Distribution Finance business said; "Swift Group is a great company with a stable and successful management team and we are delighted to play a role in the future growth of their business as they build on their recent success. Access to working capital is essential to manufacturers as we exit a recession and we are very pleased to be able to support Swift as the company returns to strong growth."