Hull offshore equipment manufacturer secures £500k supply contract with Nigeria LNG

North Sea Ventilation Ltd (NSV), the Hull-based specialist manufacturer, has secured a £500k order to supply cooling equipment to Nigeria LNG Ltd.

Established in 1992, NSV supplies heating, ventilating, air-conditioning and refrigeration systems for the energy sector.

The £9m-turnover company currently sells to customers around the world, with 80% of its sales to international markets such as the Middle East, far East, Europe, Russia, China, Australia and more recently Kazakhstan.

Under the terms of the new contract, Nigeria LNG Ltd agreed to provide a 50% advance payment to provide project funding in the preliminary phases of the manufacturing process. In return, NSV had to provide an advance payment guarantee through its bank, HSBC.

HSBC was not able to provide a bond of the size required within NSV’s existing credit arrangements, so the bank turned to UK Export Finance (UKEF) for a guarantee under its Bond Support Scheme.

In the past, this process would have involved NSV and HSBC submitting another application to UKEF, which would then undertake parallel due diligence and approvals to those HSBC will already have undertaken. This would have added days or even weeks to the process.

As a result, in October 2017 UKEF launched a partnership with five high street banks to allow smaller exporters to access government-backed trade finance support directly from their bank.

HSBC was able to make use of the new bank partnership model. By completing an online application on NSV’s behalf, and, because the transaction met all of UKEF’s criteria, the guarantee was issued automatically and without the need for any further due diligence or approval by UKEF.

NSV was therefore able to provide the required bond to its customer, ensuring it could access the £250k advance payment and re-cement a previous relationship with a client.

John Parker, finance manager at NSV, said: “Working with HSBC and UKEF has provided NSV the flexibility to realise export opportunities, securing larger contracts than we could otherwise be confident we could fulfil, and the new application process couldn’t have been simpler: less paperwork, quick turnaround and a positive decision.”

Neil Waterhouse, senior business manager at HSBC, added: “Working with UKEF has helped us help our customer. With this support, NSV’s exports are going from strength to strength.

“Our new partnership with UKEF means that we’re able to make the process as quick and easy as possible – for the customer and for us.”

Jana Horvath-Pocciova, Export Finance Manager, UKEF, also commented: “We’re delighted to be supporting world-leading suppliers like North Sea Ventilation as they grow their international reputation for quality, reliability and customer service.

“With this new bank partnership making it easier for SME exporters like these to access the finance they need to export, we hope to help even more in the future.”

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