The client
Logistics Company based in Central London with a turnover of £35M
The problem
This client was a “monitored client” of Lightbulb so already know the value and impact of understanding, manging, improving, and most importantly knowing ALL of their trade credit ratings. The issue that they faced was that having previously successfully tendered for work, they had been informed that they would not be able to tender as a key trade credit rating had dropped below the contract awarding bodies minimum credit rating threshold.
What Lightbulb did
The first step with all cases is to produce our FREE Credit Insight report that shows all the key trade credit agencies in the UK:
- Creditsafe
- Experian
- Equifax
- Dun & Bradstreet
- Red Flag Alert
This unique report shows details such as:
- Which agencies were being searched most by suppliers & contract awarding bodies and therefore key for the business.
- The ratings and credit limits recommended by each of the agencies.
- Details on how timely the business was perceived to be paying its suppliers.
With the clarity provided by our report we then arranged a FREE 15-minute meeting with the client and their accountant. This meeting is to establish firstly, exactly what the client needs us to achieve to provide a rapid solution to the problem, determine the issues involved and explain how we can work together to resolve the problem and return stability to the business.
During this consultation call with the client, we discovered that they had recently replaced several directors. Whilst the resignations were filed at Companies House, the appointments were not. This can have a significant impact as the agency’s perception was there was only a single director appointed which is considered inadequate for a business of this size.
We were able to identify and advise which credit agency was causing the issues during the tendering process and present up-to-date management accounts, in addition to explaining the director changes and a compelling reason for these.
Moral of this case study is – Ensure all relevant financial data is promptly supplied to Companies House including details on Directors as this information will be taken ingto account when assessing your credit rating
Summary & Benefits
In just 5 working days we improved our clients rating from 23/100 to 64/100. This much improved rating took the client to an acceptable level and they were able to successfully tender for new business. They continue to grow in the sector with Lightbulb Credit now truly embedded as their credit rating partner.
What our client said
“As a logistics and relocation specialist we often tender for large contracts, we approached Lightbulb after becoming aware that our risk rating of “Moderate-High” with Dun & Bradstreet was well below the “Low-Moderate” rating required to be part of large tender bids. Lightbulb quickly investigated our profile with D&B and discovered that information they held on our company financials and group structure was out of date and that their records of our payment data were also inaccurate. The Lightbulb team advised us on the actions needed to turn this situation around and after presenting our up-to-date information to the analysts at D&B our risk rating was amended to “Low-Moderate”. The team at Lightbulb delivered the results they promised and enabled us to confidently bid for an important tender project knowing that our rating would no longer be an issue. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them or use their services again in the future.”
David – CFO – Group of Logistics Companies
To be our next successful case study, start by getting your free business credit report today!