In New Zealand, the promotional products industry has annual sales of 150 million.

It's an industry that has come a long way from the days when promotional t-shirt were of such poor quality that they were quickly relegated to the status of rags.

“Companies now realise that there's no point in spending a lot of money on branding if they're putting their logo on a cheap shirt that's only going to be good for washing the car a week later,” said Kevin Moses of BMV International.

BMV International is one of New Zealand's leading importers and distributors of promotional clothing and headwear. This year, the company will put about 500,000 shirts on the backs of New Zealanders.

It's an industry where companies need to maintain a large inventory and range of stock to meet orders quickly. At any given time, BMV International has 100,000 shirts and 50,000 caps in stock.

“A few years ago, we wanted to invest in more stock so we had to liquidate our debtors to finance that strategy. Factoring fitted our needs because it liquidated our own money that was tied up in debtors and allowed us to buy more stock and keep a wider range on the floor,” said Kevin.

BMV International and Scottish Pacific Business Finance have now been working together for three and a half years.

“In our business especially – and in any business – cashflow is the lifeblood. If you don't have it, you might as well give up,” says Kevin.