Funding Options announces new leadership to drive future growth
Funding Options is today announcing the appointment of a new CEO who will lead the strategy to accelerate growth through Open Banking innovation and a wider business services marketplace for both the UK and EU.
The new strategy reflects an acceleration of the company’s existing Open Banking vision and the recent successful expansion into the Netherlands. Following its public commitments for the Banking Competition Remedies (BCR) Pool D grant, the team will be focusing heavily on investment in Open Banking solutions through 2020 and on engaging and educating SMEs to drive adoption of the technology.
Simon Cureton has been appointed as the company’s interim chief executive officer (CEO) to lead this transformation. He will be implementing a new organisational structure for the business to ensure Funding Options is best positioned to leverage the growth opportunities of Open Banking and international expansion. Previously the commercial director for Funding Options, Simon succeeds Conrad Ford, the founder of Funding Options, who stepped down from the CEO role last month.
Funding Options is also planning to expand the services it offers from lending, through credit cards to the wider business services market, leveraging the Funding Options technology for advanced matching and automation. It will also continue to offer excellent customer support to ensure customers receive exceptional service through Funding Options’ hybrid model of technology and human interaction.
Simon Cureton, interim CEO of Funding Options, said: “It’s an incredible time for Funding Options as we embark on the next stage of our journey towards becoming Europe’s prime Fintech for small and medium business services. We are seeing accelerated growth and a desire from our customers to help them at all stages in their journey, not just when they need funding.
“We have grown rapidly in the last 12 months and we expect to continue growing in the region of 15-20% quarter on quarter. We will be launching into new international markets, expanding our product offering, and increasing Open Banking adoption to drive new product innovation. Open Banking presents a hugely exciting opportunity for both our business and the thousands of small and medium sized businesses we serve. With our new and deeply experienced executive team, we are ideally placed to take advantage of these opportunities.”
Nick Ogden, non-executive chairman of Funding Options, comments: “In this time of growth and with huge opportunity of Open Banking ahead of us, we are investing in radical innovation and new business models to move from start-up to scale-up. We are therefore delighted to announce that Simon Cureton has been appointed to lead the business to the next level.
“Simon has a wealth of experience in digital innovation, growth Fintechs and investment banking, as well as an impressive track record managing and coaching teams, which makes him uniquely qualified to lead the business and deliver our strategy in this next phase. As we continue our scale-up journey to help even more businesses access the finance they need, we know his commercial experience and international expertise will be invaluable to our success.”
Simon will be supported by Funding Options’ highly experienced leadership team which comprises:
● Donald McIntosh, chief finance officer, ex MoneyExpert Ltd and British Airways
● David Keene, chief marketing officer, ex Google and Salesforce
● Alastair Preacher, chief product officer, ex Tesco and Lloyds
● Eugenie Casier, director Netherlands, ex Zark Capital and LYNX
Simon Cureton, Donald McIntosh and David Keene will also sit on the Funding Options board with the other non-executive board members.
