Matthew Bright, managing director of Optoma, said he received a letter from BM Solutions simply saying it was reviewing its strategy and would no longer be dealing with Optoma on its panel.
Bright said no other explanation was given. He said: “We’ve contacted the head of sales at BM, Alan Cleary, but so far we have received no reply from him. Until he gets back to us, we are kind of being left in the dark about why this has happened.
“We had a meeting with BM only last month talking about integrating marketing and doing some roadshows. Now we have this unexpected u-turn.”
Matthew Grayson, head of public relations at BM Solutions, said: “As far as I know Optoma is no longer on our Principal panel. We review the mix of our panel on a regular basis and the nature of business these Principals provide. This is all we can say on the matter.”
Mike Fitzgerald, sales director at Brentchase Financial Services, said this shows the writing is now on the wall for the majority of packagers. He commented: “This is quite a shock because Optoma has a good reputation for service. But lenders are trying to cut their costs with regulation now in force and may also feel cases will be more transparent and compliant if packagers are eliminated from the process.
“It is unfortunate but if Optoma can be kicked off BM’s panel then other packagers must be expecting to get similar letter in the following weeks.”
