SME direct lender Beechbrook Capital has appointed Paul Whitehouse as investment director to head up deal origination and execution activity across the Midlands. With over 30 years’ experience, Paul joins from Lloyds Banking Group, where he spent the last two decades focusing on corporate and leveraged finance transactions across the Midlands. As well as his […]
The differential between store closures and openings has reached a five year high in the first half of 2019, where a net 1,234 shops closed doors on Britain’s top 500 high streets. This constitutes around 16 shop closures each day across the UK, often in response to increasing proportions of business moving online. The biggest […]
Metro Bank has announced a trio of fintech and SME partnerships, in a move that will support hundreds of thousands of SMEs up and down the country. The new partnerships come as Metro Bank sets about injecting much needed competition into the small business banking market – deploying the £120 million funding it was awarded […]
The British Business Bank has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting smaller businesses seeking finance through the SME Finance Charter, published on 9 October. The Charter was adopted at the first meeting of the new Business Finance Council, co-chaired by business secretary Andrea Leadsom and economic secretary to the treasury John Glen on 9 October. The […]
A new research paper from Siemens Financial Services (SFS) says innovative Energy-as-a-Service solutions can help UK manufacturers save up £5.6bn over the next five years, including £954m in savings for the chemical manufacturing sector and £800m in for the Food and Drink sector. The report, entitled ‘Future Savings – Current Gain’, estimates that by partnering […]
Annually, thousands of businesses fall victim to fraudulent customers. Footlocker, for example, recently got swindled for 1.8m euros by a fake company called Ups Consultancy. This case also involved ING being fined on grounds of negligence in its due diligence of fraud and was widely reported on in the media. So, fraud not only leads […]
The 2012 LIBOR scandal rocked the financial world when it was revealed it had been manipulated for profit, culminating in combined fines of around $10bn and a decision to cease LIBOR by the end of 2021. This was a welcome move to protect banks, markets and consumers from illegal behaviour. However, with greater protection comes […]
ThinCats, the leading fintech lender to mid-sized SMEs, has today announced the appointment of David Parr as director for regional business development, covering the North West. David brings an array of funding experience to ThinCats, having joined from Barclays where he was director of Specialist Finance. In this role, he supported management teams at various […]
Commercial finance trade body, FIBA, has announced the appointment of specialist lender, The Bridging Group (TBG) to its lender panel. The lender which opened its doors for short term lending business in 2018 has headquarters in Dartford, Kent and lends across mainland UK. Adam Tyler, executive chairman at FIBA, said, “We are delighted to welcome […]
Simply today announced that it is proud to have signed up to the SME Finance Charter, a voluntary agreement that shows how UK lenders plan to support their business customers. Simply’s pledges are below: 1. We’re open for business and ready to lend. 31 months after launch and a year after we started originating on […]
