The Business Village People Podcast S2 E7 "I really wanted to be Carl Fogarty, but my mum said no!."

The Business Village People

This is a Pod One production. For more information, visit Pod One. Co. Uk. This is

the Business Village People Podcast. Hello, I'm David Markwell. And welcome, welcome, welcome to the Business Village People Podcast. This is episode seven. In this Podcast, we showcase stories from the company's service providers and staff at the business village in Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Well, if you're ready, let's go.

In this episode, we meet Karen Greenwood from Newable, a non-bank lender. Newable was founded in 1982 as the Greater London Enterprise by a number of London Borough Councils to help companies with funding. And today, they also have more than a finger or two in the business village pie as well. In the past, Karen has worked for banks and independent lenders and has provided funding ranging from 8, 000 to purchase a second-hand car to a multi-million pound deal.

Which you'll hear about shortly. Here's Karen's story. I work at Newable Commerce and currently head up the credit and risk team. Newable Commerce was created 40-odd years ago by the London Borough Councils um, designed to service the SME market because they were underserved in many areas. So Newell has effectively three divisions, uh, workspace, advice, and lending, and it was designed to take in a One man band who needed an office for the day or a desk or a meeting room, give them advice on how to break into new markets, uh, how to achieve new customers, and then how to fund his work and capital.

And we do exactly the same thing today from the little One man band through to businesses that turn over 10 to 20 million pounds. Could you help out a little Podcasting business in Barnsley? Quite possibly, we could help out a little Podcasting business in Barnsley. This One, we do have One caveat.

So Nouveau Commerce is One of the divisions in Lending. We've been set up to help export in SMEs. Um, it's a part of the market we feel is very much underserved. In our advice division, we've had the International Trade Advisors in there. So we've got some experienced people behind the scenes that can help and direct, as well as things like DBT and UK Export Finance.

Um, they're saying from our side, we look at finding different ways to find the right solution depending on what size of the exporting business is and what they're trying to achieve. So we've got some existing exporters and we've got some who are new to exporting. When I was reading the web page and the stuff that you sent through to me, it's straight out with the top of my head.

How did you start in this business and why? Oh, goodness me. So I came through a traditional banking route many, many years ago, um, because I wanted to work in the small to mid market section. Didn't want to go into corporate banking where the big boys are because quite frankly, they're, they're really easy decisions to make.

The difference is that we help the SMEs. Um, as I knew, but we're set up to help the SMEs, which really attracted me, um, into the job. Um, we've gOne from the last three years to no lending to offering under the recovery loan scheme and launching the growth guarantee screen, which is now replaced the recovery loan scheme.

And we obtained our accreditation on UK export finance scheme. I'm very proud of that actually, because it took us two and a half years and we're the only non bank lender on the scheme. And the whole point is we are the Ones that's there to try and support the SMEs. Um, One of my favorites. Well, it's not my favorite, but it's One of my favorite to remind people of how desperate the need is for the SMEs is that SMEs in this country export compared to 44 percent in Germany.

You know, we're supposed to be a nation of small businesses and the small businesses today become the medium sized businesses tomorrow and the big businesses thereafter. And I genuinely feel that they're not helped sufficiently by people with the expertise and knowledge, the ability to signpost and network people, or just understand what challenges they face.

So this is why I came into it. And I absolutely love it. We've got 200 clients on our books in two years time. Um, we are the biggest lender by number of clients on the UK expertise. What finance scheme, which I say I'm very proud of because we can see we make a difference. We don't just provide funding which is used in day to day working capital.

We've provided funding that's being used for recruitment for expansion for developing new products, a lot of green technology. So we really make a difference. I love it. What's the marketplace like for non bank lenders? Is it a particularly big market or? It's huge. So currently, as I said, we have 200 clients in our box in two years time, and we have huge growth ambitions.

We've carried out research that we believe there's currently about 300, 000 SMEs in the UK that could actually be supported through our range of cash flow solutions. Can I just stop you there? If you even What did you say? 300, 000? 300, 000, And if you think, you know, our client base, we're scratching the surface and, well, not even scratching the surface.

Um, and I find that quite frightening that it is a huge marketplace, probably One of the biggest issues NESME, the experts, have. Has to face is convincing people that they're a robust business and the exporting doesn't make them a higher risk. Um, you know, from outside, I look at an exporting businesses, far more robust, far more sophisticated because I understand the challenges that they go through.

They have so many challenges. so much administration to deal with, they have to understand the rules and regulations in every single country. Um, and, and that amount of knowledge and expertise, it takes years to, to build up and actually fight your way through all of that to then actually be able to go and sell something abroad.

So I've got a lot of respect and admiration for exports and SMEs. I really do. So what would happen if somebody knocked on your door and said, um, We need some help. What can you do for us? So we, we have a small team here. Uh, we have a small team currently of 14. And what would happen is One of the relationship managers at the front end would speak to the business, get to know them, understand what they're trying to achieve, understand what their challenges are and how they wish to face it.

And particularly if it's from a lending side and a funding side. Work a solution to cover that challenge and hopefully get them to where they want to be. We've got a number of businesses that come to us because they're growing. They won a new contract and it's a step change. And the issue they found when they've gOne to the banks, if they can get them to talk to them, is that their previous financial history doesn't support lending them more mOney because they're not big enough.

And that's where we come in, you know, we like to support the growing businesses. We look forward, we look at what their contracts are coming in, we understand what the cash flow is going forward may be, and we put together a solution that works for everybody. What's Newable's connection with the business village?

So, Newable owns, uh, the Barnsley Innovation Centre, would you believe? Da da da da da da da! We'll get these windows cleaned, quite frankly. So our advice division, which I mentiOned previously, um, there's an agreement that predates myself being a Newable, this is how old it is, that, uh, apparently they set up the innovation centre with, uh, Barnsley Council and our advice division.

And ultimately they effectively inherited the business village. So some of my colleagues, I believe, are based there and you probably see them walking around, um, day to day. Um, I'm obviously not a million miles away because I'm a Sheffield girl. But yes, so we actually own the premises and we own the business center.

So, you know, if there's somebody that you want to talk to, if a member of the team or a member of the vice is not there, you know, quite happily pick up the phOne to myself or the rest of my team around the country. So tell me about the five values. that you work to? And what do they mean? Okay, so Nuble has its own set of values.

Um, it's the values that we find that our clients tend to work to. So we reflect that from our side, you know, we've got things like dream big, you know, we want ambitious businesses. Going back to my point where we're talking about businesses, you've won a new contract and looking for funding. We want to help them take that step along the next journey on the way, I should say on their journey to go this One.

Um, you know, again, trying to, you know, be experts in our field. This is why we set up Newbill Commerce and why we're focused on a particular area of the market. We know that we've got expertise in house and we know that we've got contacts elsewhere that can help us to support and guide the business or signposting to other people who've got that knowledge and support.

Um, and so our values, they reflect what we do. They reflect from where we come from. Ultimately, and so from setting out to helping the smaller SMEs to achieve their emissions, to achieve their drives and do things in the right way as well. You know, where Newable is, um, it's often described as a very grown up business.

And I think it is. We are a bunch of people that want to sit here, want to talk to you, want to understand what challenge you're facing. And we want to help you. We don't want to try and put you into a round peg into a square hole sort of thing. Thank you. We want to deal with you as an individual because every business is different.

So how did you get into the game of finance and working for banks? Was it a dream when you were at school in Sheffield and you thought, you know, that's where the mOney really is. That's what I want to do. Or do I just want to help businesses? It wasn't my dream growing up. What was it? What was your dream?

What was my dream? I either wanted to be a baker or I wanted to race motorbikes. And unfortunately, my parents were dead set against me racing motorbikes. You know, Carl Fogarty on a Honda as he was before I went to Ducati was on my wall every day. My parents were very frightened that I was going to kill myself on a bike if I went down that road.

And then I actually did my year at placement when I was doing my degree in Manchester at an IT technology company in their finance department. I thought, okay, I like some of this. But I don't want to go into accountancy. Um, and then when I was at university, I went to the milk rounds and went to see, obviously, the various companies that turned up.

And there was One position available in Royal Bank of Scotland back in the days it was, which was in the credit side of the business. And it was talking about, well, how can you analyse a company? How do you understand it? And that appealed to my logic, as you were saying, trying to understand things built together.

And then it was really nice, Sit there and talk about the new business and how it came in and go, well actually they're coming to you because they want to grow. 'cause they need funding for this. And it did. It genuinely appealed to me. They going, okay, I want to help here. So I stayed in the bank for four years and then I saw the light and I came out and went to work in the independent market where there's not less rules and regulations, but people are a little bit more human should we say, and have the time to sit there and talk to you.

And it's not a case of an algorithm. Um, and yeah, I've built my career from there. So I've gOne through, um. Couple of different independent lenders to get to where I am. Uh, my, my biggest role was a ge uh, for 10 years I was there helping small businesses grow different types of funding. Then I went into Bibi, uh, was head of Trading International there for two years before I joined Nobel.

And it, it just seems to be a progression that, you know, every job I go to, I, I take my experience, I take my values, I take my knowledge, and I put it to good use and I. Personally, I find I've taken the next step in in my enjoyment in my career because I help more and more companies every single time.

Well, you said you wanted to be a baker. I suppose you're still out working with the dough. Ha ha ha ha. Yeah. Tell me exactly what your role is then as an underwriter. Okay. So, uh, when, uh, an application comes in, so it's been with a relationship manager, they've understood what the business is trying to achieve.

Okay. They've shaped what they think is a suitable solution for the guys. They bring it and affecting to the credit team, which is what the underwriters look at. And we sit there and make sure number One is the right solution for the client. And number two, that we actually lending responsibly. So if we actually follow through and go, here's the funding that you need, here's the working capital to live that contract.

Are we actually putting too much pressure on the business to deliver it? Because there's so many things that could go wrong. Um, again, we speak to the client. We understand, you know, what they want to achieve. We understand what they see as the risks in their business, but how they feel they've mitigated that.

We take that all on board and then effectively we will go, okay, great, we want to support this. And then we go and sell it to UKEF. So we go to UK Export Finance. We tell them what we want to do. We tell them that we're putting our name to this and we're backing this business. And at which point UKF will hopefully agree to it.

So currently I've got a 99 percent success rate. So there is a little 1 percent potentially where they have the right to say no. Um, but yeah, generally speaking, they come back and they support us. And at which point our relationships starts and we've got clients on our books since day One who keep coming back and renew with us and we keep doing more and more things with them, which is brilliant.

Um, but yeah, so that's how it goes through. And then obviously when it's live in the books, we have the, the portfolio and I look after the portfolio as well at the back end. So if you've got any concerns, if you've got clients that want increases, things like that, they come back and they talk to us and we find again, the right solution at that point in time for them.

What's the biggest deal you've dOne? The biggest deal I did was 427 million, to be precise, and it was into a global car manufacturer to do, um, do company cars into the manufacturer itself, to do employee car schemes, which they offered to numerous companies around the country, um, to do their secondhand car dealership, uh, networks of nearly new cars, three to six months old, um, and also into daily rental business.

What are your personal plans for the future? Personal plans for the future. So I have absolutely zero intention of leaving Newble. I have a fantastic team around me. I love every day, uh, coming to work because it's always something new. And the best part of my day is, is meeting new businesses, understanding what they do.

It really floats my boat. Um, so personally, I've got, I've got no intention to say to leave. However, I want to help more. We've got plans for new investors coming in any day, which means we've got more mOney to basically go out and support more companies. Um, so I'm desperate to disperse that. Um, I'm also trying to put pressure onto UK export buyers to tweak some of their conditions in their facilities, just to make it easier for us to lend to the businesses that are out there, rather than penalising those that have battened down the hatches and come through Covid.

Um, and at some point I'd like to retire somewhere warm. Arizona most likely will be, and hopefully before I'm 97. Okay, well that's, that's going to be another 57 years at least! It's a very dodgy signal, you can't see me, it's a filter. Okay, right, well I can see somebody. Are you from Sheffield, are you? I am.

I'm a Yorkshire lass, this One there, but born and bred, uh, moved down to Sheffield, goodness now, 20 years ago, but my family's still there. In fact, I'm coming back to Sheffield this evening for my dog after my mom's, yeah, because I've got a fun holiday tomorrow. Whereabouts in Sheffield? Greenwich side. Oh, right.

Greenwich side. Proper side. You know, not totally and all that a lot. Oh, God, no, no. On way to Barnsley. This One. I, I've said probably always that bit. So, when I'm cracking my grandparents back in the day, they used to live around, so, Attercliffe and Darnall, where Norman Steel works and things like that. Oh, yeah.

Yeah. So, it's One of them. My parents kind of, sort of, That's basically they've got further and further out as it was. I think they just wanted a bit of peace and quiet. And then they got me. And did you ever manage to get on a motorbike? I have been on a motorbike on a few occasions. I've never been allowed to own my own.

So my cousins have had bikes. Um, and friends of the family, very close Ones the family have. Um, so I've been out riding with those guys. But yes, I was well and truly banned from a motorbike by my mom. So what's, what's the future looking like for the company? So it's looking really, really rosy. Um, as I just mentiOned, we've got the investors coming in, which opens up a whole new raft of things.

But Newble is It means we can start to work on expanding our solutions range, which hopefully we'll find more opportunities to go. This is what works for you as a business. We can help you and support you. Um, as where we currently stand and say that the client base is about 200, we'd like to increase that to four or five times the size.

We've got the resources. We've got the systems to deal with all that. We're just ready to scale and grow. Um, and also if it's not a case of just actually finding clients that we want to deal with ourselves, we also want to become, um, a trusted advisor, I suppose is the phrase I would use. When we have businesses that don't know where else to go, come and talk to us.

It may not be me, but actually I probably know somebody because I've been around a while. And if I don't know somebody, I know somebody who will. So I can point business into whether it's Export Academy, because they want to do research on a new market that they're thinking entering, or the needs and support from DBT.

Um, or if it's an international trade advisor, you know, we can start kind of mentoring relationships. NOne of that is my business, but actually, you know, I want to help and support other people. So if I can signpost people, I really will. If anybody's wanting to get in contact with you or your organization, how do they do it?

So the easiest way is probably to go on to our website because the contact forms come directly into my team from there. So you can go on to commerce. newborn. co. uk. Or alternatively, if you want to send me an email, you can send it to karen. greenwood at noble. co. uk. Um, and I will deal with it or One of my team will deal with it.

Karen, thank you for your time. You're very welcome. Now, now this business idea that I've got. Sorry, David, bit busy. I've got to go now. Bye. Oh, Karen.

For all the latest news from the Business Village, subscribe to our free newsletter at business village. co. uk By the way, if you want to find out more about office rentals or the services available at the Business Village, call Barnsley 01226 249 590. Finally, I'd just like to thank my guest, Karen Greenwood from Newable.

I'm David Markwell, and this is Business Village. Is a Pod One creative audio production.

Never miss an episode of the business village people Podcast. Simply subscribe and follow from wherever you get your Podcasts.