Group offers to ease manufacturer concerns

SYDNEY: A Sydney-based finance company is claiming to be the first to offer Australia's small apparel manufacturing base a "get out of jail card" .

Provident Cashflow, which launched inventory finance in 2005, has now extended its offer to include a new cashflow finance option that allows manufacturers to fund their own production costs.

The company's managing director, Mathew Nolan, said the move was prompted by the increasing number of Australian manufacturers outsourcing some or all of their production.

"Clients currently use inventory finance to buy goods such as jeans or fabric to make jeans. But until now no one has funded the production processes needed to convert fabric into jeans."

Nolan said the launch meant approved manufacturers could now attain funding for all production costs including cutting, sewing and machining while retaining the flexibility to manufacture and transport raw materials and finished goods as normal.