Powering performance to help businesses thrive
What the businesses do
Neon is a performance and engagement agency, creating innovative programmes that motivate and reward employees and channel partners. Five years ago, Neon acquired FMI Agency from Appreciate Group. Founded in 2009, FMI is an award-winning brand engagement agency, delivering bespoke solutions for global organisations through brand, incentives and events.
Between them, the two agencies manage employee incentive schemes, sales performance rewards, large-scale rebrands and promotional campaigns for major manufacturers. They handle full event management, covering flights, accommodation and logistics, for both external brand promotions and internal staff incentive trips. In addition, they offer reward vouchers as part of their programmes.
Looking beyond the numbers
“Make your business and its people thrive!” states the headline on Neon’s website. FlexABL, which has funded Neon’s growth for over a decade, has the same philosophy. They consider both the business and its people before structuring the right funding solution.
Understanding the business behind the invoice
Carol Kier, Finance Director, has worked with Neon for almost three decades. Her relationship with FlexABL’s founders goes back even further, to a lender they ran before setting up FlexABL.
Much of the cost of an event, including hotels, tickets and logistics, has to be paid before a client is invoiced, and payment terms with large corporate clients can run to 60 days or more. FlexABL structured an invoice finance facility to bridge that substantial payment gap, enabling the business to win new contracts. An open approach and flexibility have proved critical.
Carol said, “As an events business, we don’t fall under the typical factorable deal types, but FlexABL took a much more open look at what our business is all about. I’m always upfront with them, and as long as they’ve got a copy of a PO from the client confirming the order’s valid, they’ll advance the agreed percentage against that invoice.”
Staying the course through COVID
Like all events-focused businesses, Neon was hit hard both during and after COVID. “Everything stopped and nobody was travelling. It was a tough time, and the team at FlexABL helped us through it all with the flexibility their name suggests.”
Keeping events moving at short notice
Fast turnarounds are typical in the events industry, where clients often confirm major projects just weeks before they need to happen. Carol explained, “We had a large automotive client contact us about three weeks before a major event. When we costed it out, it came to a significant sum, so I rang the team at FlexABL straight away to see if it was viable. I explained the details to them, and once they’d received more information from the client, they were able to provide the funding quickly.”
Always at the other end of the phone
For Carol, what hasn’t changed is the level of access she gets from FlexABL. “I know people who use factoring houses, and the experience they described couldn’t be more different to working with FlexABL,” she said. “With Flex, you get a personal, one-to-one approach, and they’re relationship-focused. Everything is founded on mutual trust and respect. They come to see us a couple of times a year, and we go over things together. They always say, ‘if you need anything, just call us.’ They’re always at the end of a phone, and always happy to help.”
Thriving with FlexABL
Neon is starting to see significantly more enquiries this year, as businesses look once again at how they engage staff and customers in a new and competitive environment. The funding provided by FlexABL allows the agencies to take on new client opportunities as they arise.
“I can’t speak highly enough of FlexABL,” Carol concluded. “They’ve been our rock from a finance point of view.”