Alex Hilton-Baird and his father, Alan Baird, set up Hilton-Baird Financial Solutions, an invoice finance brokerage, to help UK businesses find and secure the most suitable funding facilities and lenders for their requirements.
Alex and Alan establish two new companies to provide important risk management services to asset based lenders and insolvency practitioners: Hilton-Baird Collection Services, a commercial debt collection agency, and Hilton-Baird Audit & Survey, an external audit firm. And so the Hilton-Baird Group is born.
To assist in managing its rapid growth the Group hires an Operations Manager, Ian Tramaseur, who is today Operations Director for the entire Group of companies.
The Group moves into larger premises in Southampton to facilitate further expansion in personnel and activity, in order to develop its services and support more clients.
Hilton-Baird Financial Solutions opens an office in Warsaw, Poland, which has a growing invoice finance market, to assist Polish businesses with their funding requirements.
The Group is awarded a prestigious contract by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to deliver essential financial training and knowledge to the banks and asset based lenders of Moldova.
With extensive expertise at leading successful teams across the commercial finance sector, Evette Orams is appointed as Corporate Finance Manager of Hilton-Baird Financial Solutions, and is soon made Managing Director.
Hilton-Baird Collection Services is voted Commercial Debt Collection Agency of the Year at the annual Credit Today Awards, the first of three triumphs in the space of four years.
Hilton-Baird Audit & Survey delivers the ABFA’s annual audit and survey training course for the first time, for which Alan Baird won the Lecturer of the Year prize at the ABFA’s Achievers Awards in 2012 and 2016.
Hilton-Baird Financial Solutions is voted Asset Based Finance Broker of the Year at the Business Moneyfacts Awards for the first time, before winning again in 2010.
Having built an experienced and knowledgeable team, Hilton-Baird Collection Services extends its debt recovery and outsourced credit control services to SME and corporate businesses to help them overcome the difficulties of getting paid on time.
With a wealth of ABL, cross border and financial analysis experience, Graham Bird joins Hilton-Baird Audit & Survey as Audit Manager, before being promoted to Managing Director in 2016.
Pitch! Marketing becomes the fourth business in the Hilton-Baird Group, a lead generation agency that specialises in the financial services sector to help lenders find new clients.
Both Hilton-Baird Financial Solutions and Hilton-Baird Collection Services are granted full authorisation from the Financial Conduct Authority.
Loxbear Advisory is established to provide operational support to finance companies looking to optimise their processes and enter new markets, with Rob Harris joining as Director.
The Hilton-Baird Group moves into a three-storey, city centre office in the heart of Southampton, providing the facilities, space and location to be able to further expand the Group.
The Group's companies achieve further success and industry recognition nationally. First, Hilton-Baird Collection Services is voted Third Party Debt Collection Team of the Year at the CICM British Credit Awards, winning again in 2019. Two months later Hilton-Baird Financial Solutions is named Invoice Finance Broker of the Year at the Business Moneyfacts Awards, winning again in 2020 and 2022.
The team celebrates the 25th birthday of the Hilton-Baird Group, which has made a name for itself as one of the most respected and established business finance groups in the UK.
