INDUSTRY NEWS / HEAVY EQUIPMENT FINANCE
LIFTING FINANCING STANDARDS Despite the construction sector’s ‘mega boom cycle’, financial institutions are showing a reluctance to lend money in the face of the Royal Commission into the Banking sector. According to Mark Whitla, that’s the type of environment Heavy Equipment Financing Australia thrives on. WORKING AS A CREDIT analyst with BankWest & Westpac in the late 1990s, specifically lending to businesses in heavy industry, encouraged Mark Whitla to make a positive difference to each customer. “I’ve always been passionate about what I do and I like construction people. They are mostly honest, hard working and straight shooters looking for a company to manage the financing process,” he said. Whitla saw an opportunity to provide a service that benefited customers rather than the bank and in June 2000 started in the broking industry. He could see a gap in the market by providing excellent customer service and results, by tailoring financial packages to suit individual businesses, which he does so through his business Heavy Equipment Financing Australia (HEFA). “We’re relational rather than transactional. Everyone’s risk profile, business appetite and age are unique. We have an old fashioned approach to customer service and look to develop a transparent working relationship, get to know the customer’s business and the relationship strengthens over time. This allows us the ability to choose each financier for each specific financial requirement more accurately, delivering the best result for the customer. “We started HEFA with that mantra and to specifically target small to medium businesses in the construction and earthmoving equipment sectors. More recently, crane finance has become our strongest focus in terms of activity and secured business. Many companies deserve better finance solutions than those delivered by their current providers,” he said. 24 / CAL January 2019
Mark Whitla from Heavy Equipment Financing Australia.
One company that HEFA has been helping recently is Cosmo Cranes. Celebrating their 15th year, the Sydney based business is owned and managed by the Handley brothers, John and Josh. According to John Handley, the current construction boom is keeping the business busy and HEFA is helping to grow the fleet. “We operate a couple of businesses within the Cosmo Group, Cosmo Cranes with our tower crane and mobile cranes fleets, and Crane Decks Australia – our loading platform business,” Handley said. “Cosmo Cranes operates around 42 tower cranes which include Terex with some XCMGs and the new RECOM range, which we’re excited about. The mobile fleet includes Demag, Grove and franna cranes. Crane Decks Australia manages approximately 220 crane decks, and we’ve got a crew of about 90 guys. So, we’re an all round materials handling company.” According to Handley, the business predominantly focuses on the east
coast where all of their customers are enjoying continued growth. The tower crane fleet has been busy with the residential high-rise sector and is now busy with refurbishing hotels as well. The infrastructure sector is an area that Cosmo Cranes is focusing on with its mobile fleet. The company’s facilities are in Western Sydney where there’s a lot of infrastructure work planned, with the new airport coming on line at Badgerys Creek. “We’ve been working with HEFA for a while, they’ve financed a lot of our decks. We are also welcoming the arrival of our new Demag 300t crane in January, which is the first in the country” he said. “We have a good relationship with the team at Terex Cranes, and collectively with HEFA and BOQ Equipment Finance have secured a competitive and satisfactory result.” HEFA likes to support the use of smaller financiers like BOQ as an industry partner (where appropriate), rather than one of the “Big Four” ensures www.cranesandlifting.com.au
