People: SME funder poaches Mazars’ corporate finance director; Invoice finance provider recruits operations and senior relationship manager; and more

SME funder ThinCats has welcomed Geraint Regan, the former corporate finance director at Mazars, as director of regional business development for the West Midlands.

Regan has more than 20 years’ experience in banking and corporate finance, advising on numerous corporate finance transactions including acquisitions, disposals, management buy-outs and fund raisings.

As well as Mazars, he has worked for businesses including PwC, EY, IBM and RBS.

He said: “SMEs continue to find access to finance difficult and this will become increasing challenging as we approach Brexit, meaning that thousands of small businesses across the UK are missing out on finance to support them with their growth ambitions. As a regional SME itself, ThinCats understands these challenges and is providing the opportunity to effectively support entrepreneurs and SMEs in the short, medium and long term through a variety of flexible financing structures.”

Damon Walford, chief development officer, ThinCats said: “We are delighted to have Geraint joining us. ThinCats has a strong regional heritage in understanding and untapping the growth of UK SMEs. Geraint’s experience will enhance our offering as more businesses turn to funders like ThinCats.”
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Advantedge Commercial Finance, the invoice finance provider, has appointed Indy Johal as its operations and senior relationship manager.

She will be responsible for managing all aspects of Advantedges’ client portfolio at their recently opened Midlands office.

Following an MBO in 2016, Advantedge is pursuing a geographical expansion strategy and Johal’s appointment comes as it focuses on growing its Midlands office, building upon the firms existing successful operations in the Thames Valley, Newport, Manchester and Glasgow.

Johal has spent the last eight years working across a range of operational roles with Hitachi Capital, RBS Invoice Finance, and HSBC.

She said: “It is a really exciting time to join Advantedge who are demonstrating their commitment to the Midlands region through the recent launch of an office in the area. The region is thriving having seen a 9% uplift in the number of businesses in the region and a regional economy worth more than £230 billion and growing. Accessing a flexible supply of finance is critical for the delivery of growth plans and I am passionate about delivering an uncomplicated and fast service which provides certainty of funding to our clients’, so they can put those plans into action.”

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Specialist recruitment agency Woodrow Mercer is continuing to expand its team as its Birmingham office thrives under the addition of its latest department.

The agency, having experienced success with its Leeds office which specialises in finance recruitment, has since expanded the sector and launched its first specialist finance branch within Birmingham.

By bringing in new appointments, Marcus Barnes and Minesh Parmar, Woodrow Mercer hopes to bring the success of its Leeds finance division to the Midlands.

Both Barnes and Parmar have more than 10 years experience within the sharp end of the Midlands finance recruitment industry.

Barnes, associate director of Woodrow Mercer, said: “The difference from working at a large recruitment business is definitely having the autonomy to make decisions that you believe are right for your desk, business and market and feeling like you have the immediate backing from the leadership and back office support teams.  We definitely have a true focus on our ‘quality first’ approach to recruitment.”

Minesh Parmar, fellow associate director of Woodrow Mercer, added: “I feel the service levels for our clients and candidates has risen as we don’t focus on quantity anymore, it’s really caring about people we invest our time with and being pro-active with their job search.”