After recently announcing the acquisition of Barclays Asset Finance we speak to Steve Charlton & Matt Woodhouse on how the future looks at PEAC UK.

Despite the challenges the pandemic has presented, the team at PEAC is confident it has done everything possible to support its staff and partners over the last 12 months. Steve Charlton, Managing Director at PEAC UK, commented that like many businesses, transitioning to having all employees working from home was a large task. However, as a result of HPS’s investment in Alfa in 2017 and the subsequent introduction of the PEAC Gateway App and E-sig, PEAC was still able to deliver funding solutions to its partners and customers, with minimal impact to service delivery and payout times. 

During the first lockdown, PEAC reallocated staff to assist with the influx of servicing queries and forbearance requests from many of its customers and partners. Matt Woodhouse, Sales Director at PEAC UK, added that this temporary reorganisation meant the business did not need to furlough any employees and there were enough people to maintain the usual standard of service. Throughout the pandemic, PEAC has also been able to restructure the vendor team to support more partners in the South and across London. These small changes have made a big impact, and PEAC has been able to provide funding solutions to more partners than since HPS acquired the vendor business from CIT back in 2016. Matt continued by adding that since the roadmap out of lockdown was announced, there have been signs that business is beginning to pick up with more confidence from broker and vendor partners, which will greatly help the market recover from the pandemic.

In April, PEAC announced that parent company HPS was acquiring Barclays Asset Finance, and it would be combined with PEAC Finance UK. Steve Charlton shared that the acquisition of Barclays Asset Finance signals the start of an exciting period for PEAC; its strategy is to continue to develop the business and meet the ambitious growth targets it has set itself for the current financial year. With the easing of lockdown restrictions, Steve expects there to be continuing challenges for the asset finance market, especially with government schemes ending, but remains optimistic that there will be opportunities to develop the business further and support the market in new ways. 

Matt Woodhouse added that the Barclays Asset Finance acquisition complements PEAC’s current offering perfectly. The acquisition by HPS enables the business to re-enter the hard asset space with an experienced team and proven products on day one, which will be supported by the exceptional service delivery provided from the Bracknell-based operations centre. 

PEAC is confident that with the easing of lockdown restrictions and the Barclays Asset Finance acquisition, the business will be able to provide more funding solutions across a wider range of assets within the UK. If you are interested in speaking to PEAC UK about its vendor, broker, block discounting or direct offering, please visit www.peacfinance.com/uk or email info@peacfinance.com.