These meetings, held in Manchester in February and London at the end of March and were aimed at allowing leasing, asset finance and vehicle finance brokers to raise and discuss the key issues affecting their industries today. The meetings were attended by more than 60 brokers along with members from both the Board and Executive of the NACFB.
Chief executive of the NACFB, Adam Tyler, commented: "We said at the outset that the outcome of this and future meeting will be to form the Association's policy for the future - and this process is still in its very early stages. Particular issues such as the lack of Tier 1 funders in the broker market; the issue of broker to broker business; commission clawbacks; and the frequent changes to lessors' credit policies, were repeatedly raised by brokers at the round tables. We also want to look at some lessors' current volume-driven business models. We would like to question the assumption that a flight to quality can always be achieved by selecting brokers who deliver quantity."
He continued: "The next step is to engage the funders in the market in a dialogue to try and act as a mediator to put the brokers' views across. We don't promise an instant solution - the old adage about taking time to turn oil tankers applies here - but we have a good grounding from which to start work.
"The next stage will be more challenging, but we look forward to speaking with Patron funders of the Association to see how we can progress matters. One of the key concerns for many leasing brokers is simply the lack of funders in the market: they have plenty of deals coming across their desks, but no-where to place them. We want to ensure that funders look upon the NACFB logo as a badge of quality and brokers who wear that badge are the ones they want to do business with."
