Lender opens up in Leeds with £5m deal
Secure Trust Bank Commercial Finance has continued its national expansion with the addition of a new Leeds office, as it looks to provide additional funding support to SMEs in Yorkshire.
The 1,070 sq ft. office, which is based at Minerva House on East Parade, will be headed up by John Gribbon, regional director at Secure Trust Bank Commercial Finance.
John is joined by Victoria Conway, portfolio and structuring director, and Paul Goodchild, who has recently joined the business as regional sales director for Yorkshire. Paul joins from RBSIF, where he spent six years writing large corporate asset-based lending transactions. In his new role, Paul will be responsible for identifying opportunities and providing local SMEs with flexible finance facilities to support growth and manage cashflow.
The firm has already completed its first deal out of its Yorkshire office, having provided a £5m asset based lending facility to a supplier of high quality work surfaces for domestic and commercial properties.
Secure Trust Bank Commercial Finance has advanced £70m worth of loans in the Yorkshire and North East region in the last year. This includes a £2.3m finance facility for Thirsk-based Twisted Automotive, a vehicle engineering business which specialises in re-engineering new and used Land Rover Defenders.
The firm recently announced its interim results, which showed that lending balances had doubled over the course of 12 months to £187.5m as of 30 June 2018, up on the £94.2m seen the previous year. During that period, Secure Trust Bank Commercial Finance funded in excess of £1bn in customer invoices.
A team from Progeny Corporate Law, part of The Progeny Group, led by Richard Larking, acted as legal adviser to Secure Trust Bank Commercial Finance on the transaction, whilst Harry Dunhill at Fox Lloyd Jones supported as the acquiring agent.
John Gribbon, regional director at Secure Trust Bank Commercial Finance, said: “We have completed some excellent deals in Yorkshire recently, and we’ve seen a surge in enquiries on the back of this. Naturally, the next step for us was to establish an office that will allow us to maintain close contact with businesses in the region and provide a base so we can bolster our sales team. Paul has recently joined us, and we expect to increase headcount further later in the year.
“The firm’s latest results show just how rapidly the Commercial Finance arm of Secure Trust Bank is expanding. Our commitment to understanding our clients’ challenges and the pressures they face, combined with the ability to construct flexible facilities, has earned us a strong reputation and has been pivotal to our excellent performance. With established offices in the North West, Midlands and now Yorkshire, we are now in a strong position for even further expansion.”
