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Business growth
Competing and growing in uncertain times: the role of surety
How surety bonds can help to strengthen business resilience and unlock new business opportunities
Autoriai
Economic uncertainty has shaped today’s business environment. Rising costs, geopolitical tensions, supply chain disruption, labour shortages, and tighter financing conditions continue to challenge companies across many sectors. Yet businesses still need to invest, compete, and grow. Infrastructure must be built, energy systems transformed, transport networks modernised, and digital capacity expanded.
Many of these opportunities come with contractual, legal, or regulatory obligations that require a guarantee. Companies bidding for a major project, entering a new market, or working with a public authority need to show that they have both the financial strength and operational capacity to deliver.
This is where surety plays an important role. A surety bond gives the beneficiary confidence that agreed obligations will be met. For the company providing that commitment, however, the value can go much further.
Surety is often seen primarily as a transactional requirement linked to a specific project or contract," explains Pietro Lanzillotta, Surety Director at Atradius. “In reality, surety can form part of a company’s broader financial and strategic planning. It can help unlock growth opportunities while preserving financial flexibility.”
Supporting growth without limiting financial flexibility
The ability to compete for new business often depends on having sufficient bonding capacity. Whether bidding for public infrastructure projects, supporting renewable energy developments, or entering new markets, companies frequently need guarantees alongside the capital required for their wider business activities.
Surety can form part of a company’s broader financial and strategic planning.
Surety provides guarantees without using traditional banking facilities, helping businesses protect valuable credit capacity. Instead of tying up cash or reducing available borrowing limits, companies can meet contractual requirements while keeping liquidity available for investment and growth.
This flexibility becomes even more valuable during periods of economic uncertainty, when capital may be harder and more expensive to access.
Understanding the business, not just the numbers
Capacity alone is not enough. As projects become larger, more international and increasingly complex, businesses need a surety partner that understands both the technical requirements of bonding and the commercial realities of their industry.
At Atradius Surety, we see ourselves first and foremost as bond underwriters, not simply capacity providers. We work alongside our customers to understand their business model, contractual obligations, growth strategy, and risk profile.
This enables us to develop solutions that support both their immediate requirements and long-term ambitions.
Our objective is not simply to assess risk. It is to understand where the customer wants to go and determine how we can support those ambitions responsibly.
The value of surety extends beyond the guarantee itself. The underwriting process involves a detailed assessment of the underlying project, contractual commitments, and associated risks. This gives companies an additional perspective on significant contracts and investments, helping them identify potential challenges and make more informed decisions.
In this way, surety can support better informed decisions. The aim is not simply to provide capacity, but to combine financial backing with a structured assessment of the risks and obligations behind a transaction.
“Our objective is not simply to assess risk,” Pietro says. “It is to understand where the customer wants to go and determine how we can support those ambitions responsibly.”
Combining international reach with local knowledge
Guarantee requirements and market practices vary considerably between countries. Businesses expanding internationally may encounter unfamiliar legislation, different bond wordings, or requirements specific to a sector or public authority.
Local knowledge is essential because similar projects can create different requirements from one market to another.
Effective support therefore depends on combining international coordination with local understanding. Atradius brings together teams familiar with the local legislation and commercial practices, while providing a consistent approach to customers operating across borders.
This helps businesses understand local requirements, coordinate their guarantee needs across several countries and pursue international opportunities with greater confidence.
“Local knowledge is essential because similar projects can create different requirements from one market to another,” Pietro says. “Combining that understanding with a broader view of the customer’s business allows us to develop solutions that reflect local requirements while supporting their wider strategy.”
Building resilience through long-term partnership
Economic cycles are inevitable. Companies that navigate uncertainty successfully are typically those that maintain financial flexibility, preserve liquidity, and work with specialists who understand their business.
An established surety relationship becomes particularly valuable when circumstances change. Project costs may rise, delivery schedules may shift or a company may identify an opportunity in a new market. An established relationship provides the context needed to assess these developments carefully and respond proactively.
At Atradius Surety, this means building relationships that go beyond individual bonding requirements. Our teams help customers structure effective bonding programmes, optimise available capacity, and anticipate future needs. They provide insight and specialist underwriting expertise to support sustainable growth.
Market uncertainty is likely to remain part of the business landscape for years to come. Surety can't remove uncertainty or eliminate the complexity surrounding a contract. It can, however, give businesses financial flexibility, specialist expertise, and an independent perspective on the risks linked to important projects and contractual commitments.
Used in this way, surety becomes more than a risk mitigation tool or contractual requirement. It becomes part of the framework that helps companies assess opportunities, allocate capital effectively, compete with confidence, and grow prudently and sustainably.
To explore solutions tailored to your specific surety needs, get in touch with us locally to discuss how we can support your business.
Atradius Surety
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- Surety helps you meet guarantee requirements without using banking facilities, keeping credit capacity and liquidity available for investment and growth
- Beyond the guarantee itself, an experienced Surety partner can offer an additional perspective on your projects, contractual obligations and associated risks
- Atradius Surety combines international coordination with local knowledge to help you navigate different guarantee requirements, legislation, and market practices
- A long-term surety relationship helps you anticipate bonding needs and respond to change, supporting prudent, sustainable growth