Bringing multilateral obligation set-off to Lancaster and Morecambe is just the start. The Local Loop Lancaster & Morecambe team has a whole range of collaborative finance tools that can help the economy.
For the Phase 1 trial, we are just recruiting a critical mass of businesses to submit approximate estimates of their typical spending with local suppliers, so that MTCS can find the potential trading loops. This will tell us when we’re ready to launch the full service, and who might benefit from being in the club. If you decide to participate, the app will give you regular estimates of your cash-conserving potential, plus how you compare to other members.
As soon as we reach critical mass, we’ll invite everyone who stands to benefit to Phase 2, where the app will do real set-off on real invoices to conserve your cash.
In addition to MTCS, Local Loop Lancaster & Morecambe partners Mutual Credit Services (MCS) have a range of other collaborative finance tools that can support SMEs and community wealth more broadly. Mutual credit is a way of pooling the trade credit that businesses already extend to each other as part of standard invoicing practise, maximising its potential for financing operations whilst reducing administration and risk.
Phase 3 will involve offering MCS' ‘Trade Credit Clubs’ model to clusters of Local Loop Lancaster & Morecambe members that have particularly strong trading relationships with each other, adding to the benefits from MTCS to further boost business resilience.
Looking further, MCS also has tools that can help the business-to-consumer and community sectors reach their potential. We will continue to work with them to develop, adapt, and implement these systems for Lancaster and Morecambe.
