ThinkSmart treads carefully in Britain

ThinkSmart will seek to fund between £50 million and £80 million of annual sales for British retailer PC World once funding is in place. The firm aims to roll out the offering (modelled on that offered through its Australian retail partners) in the second half of the year.

Ned Montarello, chief executive of ThinkSmart, said PC World previously had an arrangement with HSBC to provide merchant finance. HSBC were covering around £300 million in annual sales (under an agreement that expired earlier this year) but Montarello said ThinkSmart aimed to fill only some of that gap.

He said he was confident ThinkSmart would be able to repeat the credit quality achieved in its Australian operations, where the firm largely finances the purchase of computers and related equipment at computer retailers.