Senior sales and marketing hires for Leicestershire funder

Tony Smedley

Ashby alternative finance specialist, ThinCats, has hired Tony Smedley as head of sales operations, and Richard Wilson as head of marketing.

Smedley has most recently been supporting businesses in the finance sector who are preparing for start-up and subsequent growth. He brings 20 years of experience in leading teams in the business finance market place having previously been Midlands regional managing director at Aldermore Bank, Invoice Finance Division and the national head of medium and small business sales at Barclays Bank, Sales Financing Division.

He said: “It is an exciting time to be in alternative finance, and ThinCats is galvanising for growth in an inspiring way. ThinCats has huge potential to fund SMEs, including those that are not being served by the traditional lenders, and I am looking forward to being at the forefront of helping these businesses achieve their full potential.”

Richard Wilson has more than 20 years’ financial services experience primarily in asset management, having led marketing teams at Aberdeen Asset Management, Henderson Global Investors and most recently Jupiter Asset Management.

He said: “ThinCats’ mission is to help UK businesses achieve their growth ambitions by securing the funding that they have too often been denied by traditional lenders. Institutional and individual investors are increasingly looking for alternative, non-correlated sources of regular income, such as those generated from business lending. I look forward to matching investors to businesses and in helping ThinCats become the go-to brand for SMEs seeking the transformational capital that will accelerate their growth plans.”

Damon Walford, CDO at ThinCats, said: “We are delighted that both Tony and Richard have joined us on a permanent basis. They both have very impressive track records in their fields, which will help to further strengthen the proposition that ThinCats is able to offer to SMEs throughout the UK.”

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