Arrow agrees business collections mandates with challenger banks

Arrow Global, has announced that it has secured mandates from three UK banks to act as collections and recoveries partner across their ounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) and Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme portfolios.

The servicing mandates, which will be managed by Arrow’s Drydensfairfax platform in Leeds, build on Arrow Global’s presence as the leading third-party servicer in the market, servicing business customers that have taken government-backed loans during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Founded in 2003 and headquartered in Leeds, Drydensfairfax is a specialist law firm dealing with corporate insolvencies and recovery of commercial and consumer portfolios for bank and non-bank lenders, debt purchasers and commercial businesses.

Arrow Global says that it has been selected by a record number of third-party servicing mandates over the last 12 months, spanning a majority of the Group’s individual businesses and priority European markets, supporting its strategy of driving high-quality capital-light earnings. This latest mandate win, with three of the foremost providers of Government recovery loans, builds on Arrow’s established presence as one of the leading participants in European credit management and demonstrates clear demand from leading financial institutions for the Group’s specialist and responsible approach to credit servicing.

Once instructed, the defaulted loans will be serviced by specialist ‘on demand’ teams at Drydensfairfax who have the flexibility to scale their services depending on the demand required. Ensuring predictability of cost and value to the UK taxpayer, the contracts are being delivered on a fixed-fee basis.

Sue Nickson, Chief Executive of Drydensfairfax, said “The scale of the challenge is significant – there are currently 1.6 million BBLS and CBILS with an estimated value of £47bn that need recovering for the UK taxpayer. The credit management sector has a key role to play in helping the banking sector address these challenges in a consistent manner, balancing the need to treat customers fairly and sensitively, while also recognising the need to make recoveries on behalf of the taxpayer.”

“Our experience of the UK insolvency and commercial credit market, our proven track-record and a scalable platform means we are well placed to do this. 2021 was a record year for new servicing contracts at Arrow Global and it’s encouraging that new institutional partners such as ambitious and fast-growing challenger banks recognise the benefits of our specialism, localised expertise and responsible approach.”