HISTORY
In 1997 Société Générale Vendor Services (known then as Société Générale Vendor Finance) was established in the UK through the amalgamation of the vendor finance business of Hambros Bank Ltd and a specialist UK team from ILC Ltd. The vendor business of Hambros Bank was developed in the early 1990’s. When Société Générale acquired Hambros Bank in late 1997, it was a leading player in the domestic market. The new parentage provided a further boost to its growth whilst maintaining the quality of the established business.
In 1998 the business moved from the City to Richmond - with easy access to the motorway network, central London, airports and rail connections, SGVS is now better able to service its wide variety of vendors.
In 2001, Société Générale acquired GEFA and ALD from Deutsche Bank. In 2000 GEFA had established an asset finance business in the UK called Deutsche Financial Services GB Ltd. This business was merged with the existing SGVS business providing yet more resource and experience.
2002 and 2003 have been years of further growth with both new vendor relationships and overall increases in sales volumes. SGVS in the UK and elsewhere across Europe is constantly searching for high quality vendor partners who will benefit from the wide range of financial and other services we provide.
In 2004, SGVS has been renamed into SG Equipment Finance.