Hilton-Baird wins gold with 200th client success

20/08/2012

Hilton-Baird Collection Services, the UK’s award-winning commercial debt collection agency, is pleased to announce it has taken on its 200th client since expanding its debt collection offering to the SME and corporate markets.

This significant milestone comes at a time when late payment remains an endemic problem, with businesses across the country finding it increasingly difficult to get paid on time. The most recent Late Payment Survey from Hilton-Baird Collection Services demonstrated the growing issue of late payment, with the average invoice being paid 17 days beyond agreed credit terms. Furthermore, Bacs Payment Schemes reported earlier in the year that the average business is owed £45,000 in outstanding payments. As a result, many are now turning to professionals to help them recover what’s owed to them.

In this context, Hilton-Baird’s expertise has proved invaluable. Ship-Elec (Electrical Wholesalers) Ltd, the Dartford-based wholesaler of electrical goods, became our 200th client when they instructed us to recover an unpaid invoice valued at £11,000, which had been outstanding for over a year.

Using a range of debt collection methods, the Hilton-Baird team worked tirelessly to recover the invoice in full, in addition to £500 of statutory interest. This was all achieved within just three weeks of instruction and prompted the client to hand over two further invoices for collection. The team has now recovered more than £20,000 in the space of a month.

Commenting on Hilton-Baird’s efforts, Erika Meager, Finance Director at Ship-Elec, said: “We were desperate to get this invoice paid which represented a considerable sum for a business of our size. Increasingly, chasing the payment was taking up more and more of our time and money. Having sought the help of Hilton-Baird Collection Services we were impressed by their techniques and how quickly the debt was recovered. To other SMEs experiencing the same problems, we would encourage them to seek professional assistance rather than consume precious business resource.”

Managing Director of Hilton-Baird Collection Services, Alex Hilton-Baird, commented: “It’s a great achievement for us to have assisted 200 businesses in the UK with their debt collection requirements in such a short space of time. This reflects the strength of our team and our desire to help SMEs.

“Late payment is a crippling problem for businesses both large and small. Although we’re seeing increasing numbers trying to do something about it, many just don’t have the resource to chase late paying customers without putting the rest of their ledger at risk. As a result, we urge businesses to consider the expertise a debt collection agency can provide to enable them to focus on what they do best.”

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For further enquiries, please contact Helen Tramaseur or Jamie Weeden at Hilton-Baird Group on 02380 706637 or email helen.tramaseur@hiltonbaird.co.uk / jamie.weeden@hiltonbaird.co.uk

Note to editors:

Alex Hilton-Baird is Managing Director of Hilton-Baird Collection Services, which is part of the Hilton-Baird Group of companies. Established in 2001, Hilton-Baird Collection Services provides award-winning outsourced debt collection services to the UK’s SME and corporate markets, as well as some of the most respected invoice financiers, leading banks and insolvency practitioners.

Hilton-Baird Collection Services was voted Commercial Debt Collection Agency of the Year in 2008, 2010 and 2011 by Credit Today magazine. In addition, two of our employees have been awarded the Commercial Collector of the Year title, with Team Leader, Charlotte Christie, winning in 2010 and Senior Collections Advisor, Peter Hepburn, winning in 2012. Such awards are testament to the continuous investment Hilton-Baird puts into making its debt collection services the best on the market, with regular training and technological innovation at the core of ensuring a fast, flexible and efficient response to business debt recovery needs.

To find out more about how Hilton-Baird Collection Services can assist, visit https://www.hiltonbairdcollections.co.uk.