The distributor who funded retail terms without touching the margin.

National retail accounts were the growth story and the cash-flow problem in one. Orders arrived in seasonal waves, terms ran 60 to 90 days, and the distributor paid its own suppliers in 30. Roughly £950,000 sat unpaid on any given day.

The gap had been bridged with supplier goodwill and a stretched overdraft. Both were running out at exactly the moment the retailers wanted bigger seasonal commitments.

Disclosure to the retail chains was ruled out from the first conversation: nobody wanted a funder appearing in the middle of hard-won retail relationships.

We arranged confidential invoice discounting at 80% against the retail ledger. The distributor keeps its own credit control and its own name on every statement, while drawing against invoices the day they are raised.

The next seasonal commitment was accepted at full volume and supplier terms were renegotiated from a position of strength: paying in 14 days bought a discount that covers a meaningful share of the facility cost.