Co-operate to push deals through, says Boxwell
East Midlands professionals are co-operating closer than ever before to push deals through – that’s the message from Fiona Boxwell, partner at the Smith Partnership in Derby. Speaking to Insider, Boxwell said: “There is far more co-operation between advisers working to get deals done at the moment. We’re all doing our best to push through the best deals for our clients.”
Boxwell said that some deals are still taking a long time to get through – mainly because of issues surrounding funding. She added: “There are still funding delays, often around the purchasers’ banks because of increased diligence.
“However, where banks have had a tradition of working in a sector, they’re more comfortable,” she added.
“Credit committees will often set themselves up to get these deals through, but anything else is taking longer. Banks are, of course, having to justify what they lend more than ever now.”
Boxwell said that advisory work is now seen on a 100 per cent commodity basis. “There are no hourly rates any more. We have to adapt to who we’re working with and to different time frames. We’ve got to find ways around these longer time frames and persuade people to get the deals done. And that is happening, because people now realise that, whilst it might be expensive to borrow money now, it’s not going to get any cheaper and the interest rates are only going to rise.
“What we’re seeing now is that buyers are thinking they may as well get on with and try and make the deals happen.”
