LOM is setting up a company which will offer financing for office equipment and promises to help Bermuda companies free up capital and grow.

The company, LOM Capital Equipment Leasing Programme, will offer financing to lease not only copiers and faxes but also office furniture, computers and telephones ? and even golf carts.

The business has been running as a pilot for two years and is now being launched as a full office supplies funding operation.

"There is a real need out there for this kind of service," said Zac Collins one of the two-man team running the operation. "We are strictly finance ? we do not service the equipment. If you purchase equipment, then you would have a contract with the vendor about service."

Mr. Collins, who is in charge of sales, marketing and client relationships, said that leasing equipment was a good option for some offices who did not have the capital to spend on large items to pay off in one go.

The other advantage, said Mr. Collins was that a leased piece of equipment could be listed in the books as an operational expense, and companies did not have to list it on their balance sheet and work out how much it had depreciated each year.

And Clifford Morris, the company's controller, said that although most financing deals were with larger companies, such as banks, Government and reinsurance firms, they would consider smaller leasing.

"We will look at each deal on its own merits," said Mr. Morris. "Typically we do three-year leasing, but can do up to five. There is no set minimum, and obviously no set maximum on the dollar amount of the lease. A lot depends on the potential. Say if wanted to lease a printing machine, and it was a small machine, we could provide the capital to purchase that machine and that might bring in further business."

Mr. Morris said that they had done packages for as little as $3,000 with the knowledge that if it did well, it could lead to more business from a group or company.

"We took what many would see as a risk (in taking a small contract) but it paid off when we got a bigger deal," said Mr. Morris.

All applications are put through a credit committee which decides if a company is financially viable to get the leasing agreement.

"We are looking to expand the business and have moved into computer networking systems and office furniture and equipment," said Mr. Collins. "We have been running the business for about two years to see if it would work. For the first 18 months we did little or no marketing. In the last four months we have realised that a) there is a market there and b) we would like to help other companies grow.

"Just like any pilot programme we had to see if it was viable and if it realises returns on investments."

Mr. Collins said that the pilot programme has show that the demand for this product is out there, and offers an alternative source of financing, much like a bank.

Mr. Collins and Mr. Morris would not be drawn on the kinds of interest on the leasing agreements LOM was offering, saying that each contract would be drawn up on a case by case basis.

Additional information can be found at www.lom.com/leasing.