Factoring industry bodies merge

The # 37bn-a-year invoice finance industry is to be represented by a single association after a merger of three separate trade organisations.

The newly-created Factors & Discounters Association (FDA) brings under one umbrella 27 invoice finance companies which, between them, fund client turnover equal to 5% of the UK’s GDP.

The merging organisations are: the Association of British Factors and Discounters (ABFD), the leading invoice finance organisation; the Association of Invoice Factors (AIF), which represented smaller invoice finance providers; and the Commercial Finance Association (CFA), which was also active in the field of stock finance.

ABFD chairman Stuart Parker, who is also chief executive of Trade Indemnity-Heller Commercial Finance, becomes chairman of the new FDA. He said: ‘It’s much easier when going to the DTI or Bank of England if you can talk for the industry as a whole.’

The new organisation is adopting the ABFD’s code of conduct, and its balance sheet and ownership regulations.