When you run a business, you’re always busy. It’s a feeling I know well! Even so, there’s one thing that I always make time for – and that’s having face-to-face meetings with the companies who use MarketInvoice.

For me, it’s a great way to connect with the businesses we help and to hear first-hand about the successes and challenges they encounter. I was recently up in Manchester, where I had the chance to meet one of our customers, PH Conversions.

This company is run by husband and wife team Paul and Vicky Hegedus from Bolton, along with their daughter Rebecca.

They convert new vans and other vehicles into ambulances and police cars, which they supply to private companies that service NHS Trusts and regional police forces. These service vehicles are integral to supporting the emergency response system across the UK.

In the family

Whenever I meet with our customers, I always like to hear about interesting moments in the business’s history.

One Christmas, Paul and Vicky were off on their annual holiday to Tenerife. They left the family business in Rebecca’s capable hands. Typically, this is a quiet time, but it just so happened that an important prospective client showed up unannounced.

Imagine Rebecca’s surprise when a Bangladeshi delegation, who were interested in contracting supply vehicles for their police force, arrived at PH Conversions asking for a tour of the facility!

Paul was on a plane at the time, so it was up to Rebecca to host the delegation and show them around. She managed the situation with ease and has since broadened her remit to include the finance and operations side of the business. No doubt that the entrepreneurial spirit runs throughout the Hegedus family!

Never give up

As a founder myself, I shared stories with Paul about some of the ups and downs of setting up your own business. He told me about how his first business, was badly affected by the credit crisis in 2008 and had to close.

While it took him some time to get back on his feet, Paul was undeterred. With a resolve to forge ahead and develop something new, he established PH Conversions in 2013. As Paul and Vicky got the business up and running, they started growing quickly.

They signed on big projects for large companies in the transportation sector, but cash flow started to suffer from long payment terms, as Paul needed to have money up front to pay for new vehicles before he got paid by his end clients.

Funding for growth

Given the hardships Paul faced with his last business, he knew that it was best to consider finance options to alleviate pressure from his expanding company.

In 2014, PH Conversions became a MarketInvoice customer – and have used our services monthly since to improve access to cash flow. The business has scaled rapidly over the past three years, from a turnover of £432,000 to over £1.7 million annually. That’s an amazing growth of 300%!

It’s this spirit – a passion and dedication to moving forward despite obstacles – that fuels what we do here at MarketInvoice. I was humbled to hear that for Paul, using a service like MarketInvoice makes him more confident in what his business can do. He can now seize every opportunity and grow without worrying how it will be financed.

Making a difference

I was walking around London the other day and saw an ambulance speed by. I couldn’t help but wonder if this was one of the vehicles supplied by PH Conversions. It’s moments like these that I’m reminded of the unique and indispensable offerings provided by the companies that use MarketInvoice.

That really inspires me to make sure we are giving the best possible service to Paul, and thousands of other small businesses like his all over the country.

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