- Cattles
Infobox Company
company_name = Cattles plc
company_
company_type = Public (lse|CTT)
foundation = 1927
location =Batley , UK
key_people = Norman Broadhurst, Chairman
David Postings,CEO
industry =Consumer finance
products =
revenue = £822.2 million (2007)
operating_income = £165.2 million (2007)
net_income = £114.7 million (2007)
num_employees =
parent =
subsid =
homepage = [http://www.cattles.co.uk www.cattles.co.uk]
slogan =
footnotes =Cattles plc (lse|CTT) is a British
consumer finance company based inBatley ,West Yorkshire . It is listed on theLondon Stock Exchange and is a constituent of theFTSE 250 Index .History
The Company was founded by Joseph Cattle in 1927 in Hull. [http://www.cattles.co.uk/index.php?our_history_ Cattles History] ] It was first listed on the
London Stock Exchange in 1963. In the 1990s it developed the "Shopacheck" brand. In 1990 it acquired "Compass Credit" and went on to buy "Welcome Financial Services" in 1994, "The Lewis Group" in 1997 and "Dial4aloan" in 2001.Operations
Cattles specialises in Home Collected Credit. It has over 300 offices across the
United Kingdom .Cattles operate under many other company names including Welcome Financial Services, Welcome Car Finance and Shopacheck.
These companies offer loans to "
sub-prime " customers who are often refused credit by more mainstream lenders such as high-street banks. Since such customers are considered to be more risky, the interest rates charged tend to be significantly higher than most.In addition, the company also has a debt recovery and investigation services operation, which operates as The Lewis Group, serving both external clients and Welcome Financial Services. It is also one of the UK's leading buyers of non-performing debt.
Controversy Over Home Collected Credit
In June 2004, the National Consumer Council referred a Super-Complaint regarding the Home Collected Credit industry to the
Office of Fair Trading . The Office of Fair Trading published a consultative paper which raised concerns about concentration of market share between the four largest providers, including Cattles. It also mentioned a number of business practices and customer characteristics which could hinder market competitiveness. [ [http://www.oft.gov.uk/news/press/2004/home-collected-credit OFT action on Home Collected Credit Super-complaint] ]References
External links
* [http://www.cattles.co.uk/ Official site]
* [http://www.lewisgroup.co.uk/ The Lewis Group]
* [http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=CTT.L Yahoo profile]
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