SME specialists appointed by Lloyds in the Black Country

LLOYDS Bank Commercial Banking has strengthened its position in the SME market with the appointment of seven specialist SME banking professionals in the Black Country.

Headed up by senior manager, Linda Gawthorpe, the team is based at Lloyds Bank’s offices in the Black Country, and will work with businesses across areas including Dudley, Walsall and West Bromwich.

The new recruits bring over 200 years of collective experience in commercial banking to the team, and will provide guidance and support for a range of businesses with a turnover of up to £25m, with financial expertise, funding and guidance, as they work towards their growth ambitions.

The team will be working on deals similar to the £250,000 funding package that was recently provided for Furmanac Ltd, a mechanical bed and chair manufacturer in Dudley, which used the bank support to purchase new machinery, creating 20 new jobs.

Ms Gawthorpe said: “These latest appointments add further strength to our offering in the Black Country at a time when we are looking to increase our lending to SMEs across the region.

“Our new team is made up of specialist relationship managers who have a strong knowledge of business in the local area and are on hand to offer their guidance and support to organisations within a range of sectors.

“Firms in the Black Country are seeing strong improvement in business conditions as confidence returns to the UK economy. Adding further momentum to this, Lloyds Bank has pledged to grow its lending to SMEs by £3bn over the next three years.”

SCIFS poaches new investment director

MIDLANDS’ financial services company, Smith Cooper Independent Financial Solutions (SCIFS), has poached its new Investment Director from a London-based investment management business.  
 
Adam Carter (left) was previously Discretionary Investment Manager at the City firm Seven Investment Management where he was responsible for business development in the financial intermediary arena and the provision of investment management expertise to existing and prospective clients.   
 
SCIFS is a division of Smith Cooper accountants and acquired Leicestershire IFAs Mackenzie Gibson in 2011.  The independent financial advisor firm specialises in wealth management, inheritance tax planning and investments for both individuals and corporates across the Midlands and beyond.  It currently manages funds in excess of £120m from offices in Birmingham, Nottingham, Derby and Burbage.
 
Working in this newly-created post reporting to Managing Director Richard Garside, Carter will be responsible for building investment strategies to meet the life goals of SCIFS’ clients.  He is a Chartered Wealth Manager and was previously an Investment Adviser at St James’s Place Partnership where he managed ultra-high net worth assets for leading hedge fund managers.

Garside said: “It’s an exciting time in the development of SCIFS and once we had identified that there was a need to strengthen the senior team, Adam was a natural choice due to his experience.  It is recognition of the success of SCIFS that we can attract staff from London and this appointment will allow us to take the company to the next level.”  

Alycidon Capital strengthens position with brace of appointments

BIRMINGHAM-based engineering investment company Alycidon Capital, has made two key appointments as it plans for growth in 2015.

Business development manager Tom Page (left), joins a group that has five businesses in its portfolio: Advanced Interactive Materials Science (AIMS), Cox Wokingham Plastics, Process Systems International, Promold International and GE Precision Engineering.  

Page, 29, has an engineering background and was previously with Morris Site Machinery as business development manager.

He said: “This is a fantastic challenge that will allow me to develop my skills and knowledge to a broader audience.  The companies that Alycidon support have a global client base and work across many industries from automotive to aerospace and from food production to oil and gas.”  

His new role with see him have specific responsibility for a team focused on the production of components made using the patented processes of AIMS within metal matrix composites particularly the hard wearing unique patented alloy Sagittite.
 
Joining him is group accountant Nick Barry (right), also previously of Morris Site Machinery. He joins as group accountant and will oversee the complete day to day accounting processes for the Alycidon group.  

Alycidon Capital is located in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter and is headed up by co-founder and managing director Mark Hodgkins.  The group focuses on long term investments working with SME businesses in engineering, plastics and advanced metallurgy techniques.