Advantedge speeds up expansion drive with new business appointment
Advantedge Commercial Finance (Advantedge), a leading invoice finance provider, has appointed John Speed as regional sales manager within their Thames Valley division. John will be responsible for developing Advantedge’s’ presence in the southern region as the firm continues to pursue a geographical expansion strategy designed to increase the access to financial solutions for businesses in the region.
The appointment comes at an exciting time for the region, which accounts for 35% of the UK’s business population with 2 million private sector businesses in London and the South East. The south east is forecast to deliver the highest economic growth amongst the 12 UK regions in 2019 with economic growth in the South East forecast to edge up to around 1.7% in 2019, while London and overall UK growth will remain at around 1.6%.
John brings with him seven years of financial experience gained within the invoice finance sector, successfully identifying and shaping funding facilities for a wide range of businesses for key market players such as Bibby Financial Services and Hitachi Capital. He decision to join Advantedge was influenced by their can-do attitude and their ambitious growth strategy.
Speed’s appointment builds upon the firm’s growing sales presence which continues to grow across the UK as the firm continues to focus on being close to their clients. Their regional presence now extends to Scotland, Liverpool, Manchester, Yorkshire, The Midlands, the South West, Wales, the South East, Essex, London as well as the Thames Valley.
As John comments: “The ongoing political uncertainty is unsurprisingly leaving businesses in the region with a negative view of the ongoing conversations around Brexit. However, the region has a thriving business community where the latest figures show a notable increase in business confidence by 5 points to 14% in the south east. I believe the increasing financial services presence in the region is supporting this growth. Ensuring that business has fast access to flexible and straightforward funding solutions is essential if the regions businesses are to continue growing and creating jobs. I am delighted to be joining Advantedge who are committed to providing certainty of funding to UK businesses. They have a strong commercial perspective, access to large funding pools and a commitment to delivering a market leading service. With funding facilities available up to £1.5m I am looking forward to supporting firms in the southern region and their growth aspirations.”
Advantedge, who offer a full range of invoice finance facilities to small and medium sized businesses, have seen consistent growth having already funded over £2bn worth of invoices to British SME’s and hope to significantly increase that number as they continue to expand their operation. The business attributes this continued growth to delivering fast, flexible and straightforward finance solutions to clients on their own terms, which is aimed at delivering a transparent and professional service to both intermediaries and clients.
As Keith Godfrey, head of sales – South concludes: “John is a dedicated new business professional and has earned himself a solid reputation for shaping and delivering finance deals to businesses looking for flexible and straightforward finance solutions. He has a natural ability in building personal and local relationships which matches our core ethos as we remain committed to personal and local relationships delivered in the way our clients and their advisors want. We are delighted that he has chosen to join us at such an exciting time, as we continue our quest to expand the size of our business and look forward to him making a difference to businesses in the region”.
