The recent world financial market crisis and consequent economic downturn in the UK has made things difficult for vending operators. Even though the economy seems to have stabilised, the availability of normal lines of credit for SMEs has remained tight. As a result, sales financing has come under the spotlight, along with the willingness of financiers to appraise customer credit risk sensibly and maintain an appetite for the business.
Throughout the recent economic downturn in the UK, SFS has made it a strategic goal to support the vending sector through competitive service and innovative products. We continued to invest in our professional internal support staff and experienced field sales support to enable vendors to create tailor-made products and services to match the developing needs of their customers.
So it may be in no small part due to our market commitment that NIVO, the National Independent Vending Operators’ association, has awarded Siemens Financial Services Ltd the NIVO Service Supplier of the Year accolade for the second time running.
Siemens Financial Services Ltd (SFS) has been supporting the vending industry for over thirty years and has been working with NIVO members since the association began. As a result, we have built up what might be described as an in-depth understanding of NIVO members’ specific requirements, allowing us to offer financing solutions that are appropriate to all operator sizes, from small local dealers up to large national independent operators. Being awarded the accolade twice in succession is, I would like to believe, a testament to the appreciation vending operators have of finance (and other) suppliers who stick with the industry even in the most difficult of markets.
Last year was patently a challenging one for all businesses. So our vending operators must have been offering their customers exceptional quality of service and support to maintain the levels of business that they did. Service differentiation is key in trying times.
Naturally, we are hugely appreciative of the NIVO award. Being recognised for the service support offered by the whole SFS team to NIVO members makes us very proud. SFS has always believed in supporting the industry, and since our introduction of a dedicated vending support channel some years ago, our position as the industry’s leading service provider has, we believe, grown. We thank NIVO and its members for this accolade.
