Former Head of NatWest Business Development joins B2B
Haydn Thomas, former UK head of business development – Business Banking at NatWest has joined B2B Finance as a broker after almost 25 years with NatWest.
“Working with James, John and the team at B2B over the last few years I have admired the quality of their systems, training and team spirit, they have built an impressive business and a very strong team.” said Haydn.
He explained, “Once I had decided to become a broker it was an easy decision to join the B2B family and I’m delighted to say the first few days have been fantastic. The importance of a positive work-life balance and culture was a real deciding factor too and is something that is immediately evident, I’m looking forward to a long and successful new career.”
Haydn becomes the 50th broker at B2B as the business continues to recruit and grow. B2B is a father and son business founded by John & James Booker. Young James said ‘We are delighted to have recruited Haydn, he joins a highly successful and motivated team who share our ambition to be the go-to brokerage for all SME financial services’
B2B Finance brokers benefit from be able to work from home. B2B developed their own Cosmic software to give their commercial finance brokers all the tools they need to efficiently run their own local branch, whilst also supplying good leads, an integrated phone and email platform and all the compliance, insurance and lending partners needed.
A B2B broker can build their own local business by setting up their exclusive introducers within the B2B Cosmic system. Those introducers benefit from being able to track the progress of their cases, reading the live case notes and they are paid directly by B2B after completion, for peace of mind.
In the B2B Finance model, brokers are employed on a contract basis; there is no geographic territory awarded, as leads come in from all over the world to their website. B2B supplies a customised laptop computer to access it’s systems, and as many leads as the broker wants, all the broker needs is a good internet connection.
Training is given at B2B Leicester offices initially and completed at home. Some brokers have grown to employ family members and friends to assist them, all of which can be accommodated by the model. B2B see their brokers holding the client relationship in the future SME market where traditional lenders find the deal size and account value insufficient to support direct relationship managers. Most of their senior brokers are ex-bank or building society staff but recently successful brokers have begun joining B2B from rival brokerages which don’t offer the same level of technical support.
John Booker said, “It’s very encouraging that top people recognise what we are building here and want to be part of it. We may be high-tech, but our core values of giving sound advice, great service and the best deal are old fashioned, our tech just helps efficient delivery.”
