Eye on Finance
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usinesses in every sector of Northern Ireland’s business community are busy ensuring they are in the best possible shape to deal with the uncertainty caused by the EU referendum vote to take the UK out of Europe. Despite an uncertain macro-economic environment, Danske Bank remains confident that dynamic local businesses will continue to look for opportunities to grow during the rest of 2016 and into 2017, and the bank says it is ready to support those ambitious companies. As Head of Corporate Acquisition at Danske Bank, Rory Clarke is focused on developing new relationships with leading businesses and their advisors across Northern Ireland. He says companies he is talking to are still looking to grow through investment in new markets, new product development or M&A transactions. “Business owners and managers are looking to make sure their companies are as lean and efficient as possible, examining whether they have the right funding structure to meet their growth objectives in the current environment. Many still have ambitious plans in the pipeline and hopefully we are well positioned to win their business,” he says. In what is undoubtedly a competitive corporate banking market, Clarke points to the sector specific expertise of Danske’s corporate team, the fact that decisions are made locally and products and services delivered from Northern Ireland. Alongside the quality of its systems these are some of the competitive advantages that have helped Danske become the bank of choice for a large proportion NI’s top companies. Top 100 firms such as SHS Group, Henderson Group, Montupet, Western Horticulture, Randox Laboratories and LacPatrick Dairies have all moved to Danske Bank in recent years. Danske was named Corporate Banking team of the year at this year’s Northern Ireland Dealmakers awards and that team has been further bolstered recently with the addition of Mark Canning, who has joined as Corporate Acquisition Manager from investment fund manager Whiterock Capital, with further recruitment expected to follow. While the vote to take the UK out of the European Union may be creating some uncertainty, Rory Clarke says his team is confident in the business community’s ability to maintain growth. “There are a lot of potential funding
opportunities for us in the second half of 2016 as businesses seek to expand through acquisition or investment. We’re finding more and more companies developing new markets outside Northern Ireland, which is hugely encouraging. Danske Bank has a proven track record of supporting those businesses and, I think, a very attractive offering,” he says. “Customers tell us they like that we have local leadership making lending decisions, that we are agile when it comes to making those decisions and that we have an innovative cash management system that helps them drive efficiencies. Danske’s relationship management also has the highest customer satisfaction rating in NI, helped by the expertise of our team and its sector specialists.” One customer who can attest to the support offered by Danske’s corporate acquisition team is Newry based Norbrook Laboratories, a global provider of veterinary pharmaceuticals, which has been with Danske Bank since 2013. Martin Murdock, Norbrook’s Finance Director, explains that Danske Bank is supporting Norbrook’s business growth plans in a number of ways. “Several years ago when we reviewed who we wanted to provide Norbrook’s banking services we spent a significant amount of time considering what was appropriate for the business going forward. We took into account not only what we wanted a bank to provide for us in terms of service and agility but also who was going to manage our day to day relationship. “Rory and the corporate acquisition team at Danske have proven from day one that they have the capability, the local authority and an experienced team in place. They are competitive and flexible in terms of product structuring, service provision and in helping to deliver solutions for our complex business needs.” Norbrook is a global company that has a family ethos, and one that wants to work with providers who can deliver services for the company across the world if required but who can be with them on site quickly if needed. Murdock says Danske Bank, with its local CEO and autonomy to make decisions for Northern Ireland based companies in Northern Ireland, fits with Norbrook’s needs. “Danske Bank understands our business and we have been able to build personal relationships to ensure that Rory and the corporate
“ Norbrook is constantly looking at ways to simplify our business and the platforms Danske use allow us to do that.” Martin Murdock, Finance Director at Norbrook Laboratories.”
team are an extension of the Norbrook team. We have confidence in our relationship managers and we know that when we approach Danske with an issue or a business proposal it will be dealt with promptly, efficiently and locally,” he adds. “Danske Bank is able to provide for Norbrook the services you would expect from a modern banking institution. We, as a business are constantly looking at ways to simplify our business and the platforms Danske uses allow us to do that for our financial transactions. The investment Danske Bank has
made in technology allows its systems to interface with ours, saving time and money for the company.” Norbrook is constantly evolving and investing for growth. It now has a presence in 115 countries and its growth levels are currently above the market average for its industry. North America as a region is one of the company’s largest growing markets and the companion animal market has been identified as a key growth sector. “As we grow and develop we need a banking partner who can make decisions quickly, come up with innovative solutions and to be versatile in their delivery,” says Martin Murdock. “As we move forward into our new financial year we are confident that the team in Danske Bank will continue to work as a supporting partner to our financial and commercial team to deliver products and services locally to meet our global needs, assist us to simplify our systems and to help us to continue to grow our business.”
Rory Clarke can be contacted on rory.clarke@danskebank.co.uk
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