Asset finance advisor Richmond Group is holding discussions with major finance providers following the launch of a new back office outsourcing service designed to accelerate innovation within the industry.
The new Move to Improve service was created in response to industry feedback and provides outsourcing of back office staff and/or software provision.
Staff outsourcing can provide wide-ranging benefits that go far beyond cost savings, according to director David Pedreno (pictured above).
For example, it can free core staff from the burden of repetitive low-value tasks so they can concentrate on higher value services to generate growth and revenue. The service can also deliver a flexible and scalable workforce to manage individual processes, freeing up resource to concentrate on demanding development projects, such as digitalisation initiatives. Companies can also quickly add experienced resource without the need to train new employees.
Pedreno said: “In the last year we have seen a real change in attitudes to the kind of service we are offering, in large part due to having taken part in the world’s largest experiment in remote working.”
After a pan-European search, the business chose Bulgarian capital Sofia as its base of outsourced operations, both for cost efficiency and also for its pool of young, well-educated, multi-lingual talent, many of whom have direct asset finance experience from the country’s financial sector.
David Harmer, co-director of Richmond Group (pictured below), added: “It was important that we provided our services from a convenient EU location where we could keep our costs reasonable and where we have access to talented people with the skills we want, including language proficiency.”
The centre is a branch of the UK business, not a subsidiary, and as a UK company it falls under English contract law.
The Move to Improve service can also outsource the provision of back-office software systems, using a pre-configured approach based on its wide-ranging consultancy experience with major asset finance clients.
It will provide ‘software agnostic’ access to a choice of providers, delivering a fully-managed, cloud-based system, with subscription pricing.
The company is already reporting interest in its Move to Improve programme from a number of asset finance providers, including multi-national organisations.
Richmond Group was established in 2000 as a specialist consultancy and assistance service to the equipment finance and leasing industry, with clients including BMW Financial Services, Daimler Chrysler Capital Services, Bank of America, Toyota Financial Services and Xerox Financial Services, and Siemens Financial Services.
Pedreno developed a career as a programme transformation director in Europe with Caterpillar Financial Services, Associates First Capital Corporation and Dell Financial Services before joining Richmond Consulting Group in 2000 as a founder member.
Harmer has spent his career in financial services including automotive and equipment finance and banking before taking a director role with Richmond.
