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Michael Trout - Asset Finance
34 Lawn Drive, ChudleighTQ13 0LT
01626 853982
Mike Trout is a Chudleigh person through and through. Born at 10 Clifford Street more years ago than I care to remember, I went to Chudleigh Primary School then on to Newton Abbot Grammar School where I spent more time playing sports than I ever did studying. I had a spell of some ten years working and travelling before settling down in Chudleigh again almost 30 years ago. I have always been interested in sports still playing cricket and badminton in Chudleigh, watching all sports and actively Treasurer of both the Cricket Club and the Sports Centre.
Most of you already know me, some don’t and some of you may wish you didn’t.
However I’m Mike Trout, I’ve been a self employed Corporate Finance Broker for the last 20 years having worked for Lloyds Bank and Lombard prior to that. What is a corporate finance broker? Well, I’ve been asked to arrange car insurance, life insurance, pensions, mortgages etc over the years but I don’t do any of that, although I know a man who does!
I do more or less what I did with Lombard, that is I arrange finance primarily for business users acquiring new or used assets for their business or a new or used car for their own use whether it be on the business or not. The assets I fund are cars, commercial vehicles, plant and equipment, catering/laundry equipment and anything you can think of along those lines. So don’t be afraid to ask, if I can’t I probably know someone who can! I also arrange finance for new and used motor vehicles for private individuals.
I have many very satisfied customers who use me for every type of finance you can imagine and I am very keen to increase my customer base in and around the Chudleigh/ Newton Abbot areas. I have financed a fridge unit for a corner shop costing £500 + VAT on a 12 month lease because it was more tax advantageous than paying cash (with ownership at the end), to an aircraft costing megabucks for a small airline company! These customers always phone me whenever they are buying an asset for their business, get a quote and tell me to get on with it. I deal with the supplier to arrange invoicing etc and don’t pay the invoice until the customer is totally happy with the acquisition.
How often for instance do you go to a motor dealer, do a cracking deal on the purchase of your new car and part exchange then throw it all away by taking his often more expensive finance quote. I can in most cases beat the quote your dealer can provide and I can give better advice as to the method of finance suitable for your needs. You can bet your lives he is getting some kind of commission for selling finance to his captive customers to sweeten the deal for himself.
There are no add-ons when you use me and as you’d expect it’s totally confidential. Finance companies have to employ large numbers of reps with a large salary and company car to provide them with their targeted business. I have a rather unique deal with my funders as they put money aside, instead of employing and therefore paying reps, I get their rock bottom rates which I use for my customers and they pay me out of that pot for the good business that I provide for them. So I get paid by the funders direct and not by you indirectly by paying a higher rate of interest for your finance. This way everyone gets a good deal.
Although totally confidential, I have the permission of Tim and Dawn Robbins of Chudleigh News to mention my latest financed deal in Chudleigh. Tim and Dawn have recently established All Wrapped Up, (beautiful ballons for all occasions) at 80 Fore Street. They had decided to buy a Ford Transit Connect van from a local dealer and asked me for a finance quote in competition with the dealer’s finance. The van was a tool for the business and as such, a low initial payment was required for cash flow reasons with the finance spread over 5 years as they expect to keep the van that long. I checked the cost of the new van and found they had the best deal around but if they had said yes to the dealer’s finance, they would have thrown all that away as my quote was a whole lot better costwise. I’ve even saved them money on the administration fee and the secondary rental fee when they come to the end of the 5 year period. They can negotiate the sale of the van at any time on behalf of the leasing company should they so wish and keep the proceeds so they will benefit from keeping the van in good condition. All their payments will be treated as a revenue expense and will be offset against their tax. A cracking deal all round. (See picture on this page).
Providing you haven’t been too naughty in the past, funding for good businesses is easily set up. From an initial appointment at your premises I can give advice as to whether Hire Purchase, Lease purchase or Leasing is best for your business. I can also give advice with regard the best way to finance as regards to cash flow etc. It’s not always best to pay cash. There are tax benefits and working capital benefits to be derived by using finance. Once agreed, I deal with the rest and you just sign when you’re happy.
There is also a huge benefit if you have any queries after your finance has been set up. Your dealer won’t sort it for you, you have to phone a finance company who may be miles away from here and get told you are in a queue and listen to music you don’t like for ages and ages. Just give me a local call, if I’m not available I’ll get back to you same day and I’ll sort out whatever query you have at my own cost.
So you know what to do, get a finance quote from your supplier whether it be motor, plant and equipment or the smallest cost piece of kit then ring me for the best quote afterwards. Don’t cave in to the suppliers’s pressure to do finance with him. The worst that can happen is I’ll confirm the supplier’s quote cannot be beaten, but I doubt that.
There’s a government health warning here! Failure to get a quote from Mike Trout could seriously damage your business’s finance arrangements and your guild membership!