The corporate team at Pannone Corporate has advised Manchester digital company Intechnica on securing a £900k investment package to fund its ambitious growth plans.
Intechnica has received backing from Mercia Technologies PLC (parent company of Enterprise Ventures), Greater Manchester Combined Authority through its Investment Fund and three business angels. It is the third major investment by the funds which first backed the company in 2013.
Founded in 2007, Intechnica’s software, TrafficDefender, helps online retailers deal with surges in demand at peak times such as Black Friday sales. The company, which employs 65 people, boasts customers such as ao.com and William Hill.
Tim Hamilton, partner at Pannone Corporate who advised Intechnica, said: “Intechnica is a long-standing client and a fantastic success story. Its innovative software, TrafficDefender, is a market leader in helping retailers and other businesses prevent the loss of sales and subsequent reputational damage from website slowdowns and crashes. We are delighted to advise on the latest round of funding as the company ploughs ahead with its ambitious expansion plans.”
Intechnica managing director Jeremy Gidlow said: “It is exceptionally pleasing that our investors, who first backed the company four years ago, have once again demonstrated their commitment and belief in our innovative software and global ambitions. Our products and services provide solutions to the challenges of managing and optimising human and non-human web traffic, and this latest investment will help us tap into international markets as well as boosting our client base in the UK.
“We would like to thank the team at Pannone Corporate which has played a pivotal part in helping us secure our development funding.”

Communications company Intelling has secured a multi-million pound cash injection from NVM to help fund its ambitious growth plans.
Manchester-based Intelling provides customer services support for companies such as Telefonica and Missguided. The business offers a range of inbound and outbound telemarketing and customer care services, specialising in the business to consumer market.
Headquartered in Manchester with additional premises in Belfast and Burnley, the company currently has around 400 staff and has enjoyed year-on-year growth since formation in 2012.
Pannone corporate partner Tim Hamilton advised NVM on funding will accelerate the development of new business streams and help strengthen the growth of Intelling’s core activity.
Tim said: “We were delighted to advise NVM on its latest investment. Intelling has a visionary and entrepreneurial management team and the cash injection will provide an excellent platform from which to achieve its further growth plans.”
Andy Leach, Investment Partner of NVM, added: “Intelling is an exciting and dynamic communications business and we have been very impressed by the management team, who are extremely well-regarded within the sector and bring a wealth of experience and an excellent track record. In Intelling we are backing an ambitious business operating in a market that has significant growth opportunities.”

As a business, no matter the size, it is vital that you are paid what is owed to you by customers and clients. Late payments or avoiding payment altogether for goods and services is an issue for a lot of our clients.  Non-payment can be incredibly challenging for your cash flow, and therefore, have a detrimental impact on your business in the long run.

Managing your debtors effectively is key for any business.  We set out below a number of steps you should take to effectively manage your debtors.

The Debt Recovery Process Explained

Invoice

Whether they have been sent previously or not, each request for payment needs to be accompanied by the relevant invoice and purchase order (if appropriate). This works as the paper trail should you need to subsequently escalate the matter.  Prior to the first invoice, you and your customer should have agreed upon payment terms. These payment terms should specify exactly when they need to pay, and what will happen if they don’t.

Reminder

If after invoicing you have not received payment it is important to chase the customer. Sometimes emails do get lost or are overlooked.  The debt recovery process of sending reminders could either involve sending further emails or chasing up via a phone call. We suggest keeping a note of the call on the file.  If the customer is ignoring your calls, keep a note of when you rang as you might need to refer to it subsequently.

Withhold Work?

If payment is being withheld for any length of time without reason, you should consider whether you ought to stop any further work for this customer.  You may not be able to stop work immediately (due to the nature of the contracted relationship) or you may have a longstanding relationship which makes it difficult to stop work however you need to bear it in mind, at least as a threat. In many instances, this is likely to work as the other business may suffer without the services that you are providing them.

If this doesn’t work, then seeking other forms of resolution must become your next step without delay.

Final Notice

A final notice, in all likelihood, is maybe the last correspondence that you send to a customer in the debt recovery process prior to taking action against them. This should outline a time period or deadline in which to pay the amount due including interest and any further costs or expenses that may be due. In many cases, the customer will respond to a final notice.

However, if the final warning is not successful, then you need to consider legal action.

Legal Action

When it comes to legal action in the debt recovery process, you have two options – legal proceedings or the insolvency route.  There are advantages and disadvantages to both options and we can guide you through the choices. At Pannone Corporate, protecting your business is important to us.

We have years of experience in looking after the legal needs of a wide range of clients; including many household names such as Boohoo.com, DHL, Iceland Frozen Foods and L’Oreal.  Our debt recovery team can help you to successfully recover business to business debts and can be contacted at our Manchester office on 0800 131 3355 or via the contact form.