People: Reward Finance makes key appointment; Law firm announces new disputed wills, trusts and estates offering; and more

SME funder Noel Haverly has joined the Leeds office of Reward Finance as business development director.

Haverly has spent almost 20 years in the alternative finance market working in a variety of roles.

He joins from the Leeds office of Ultimate Finance, where he was head of sales, prior to which he was at Aldermore Bank.

He said: “I have known many of the team at Reward Finance from my Aldermore days and I have admired the way they have grown the business, year-on-year, with sales and lending reaching record levels.

“Reward have built a very experienced team, who can quickly understand the funding needs of businesses and can rapidly approve facilities, without having to go through a complicated hierarchy of decision makers.  And, whilst maintaining a responsible funding stance, the ‘can do’ attitude, where they look for solutions is just what introducers and their clients need.
“The decision for me was a very simple one and I am delighted to be joining such a forward thinking business with ambitious growth aspirations.”

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Law firm Weightmans has appointed associate Matthew Morton to head up a new disputed wills trusts and estates team.

Formerly of Lupton Fawcett, Morton specialises in disputed wills, trusts and estates and is experienced in disputes involving the administration of estates, will validity claims, trust disputes and Inheritance Act claims.

Although based in Leeds, Morton and the team have a national remit.

Carole Atkinson, partner and head of the private client team, said: “Here at Weightmans we are seeing more demand than ever before for guidance and support in the event of estate disputes. There are now more demands on family wealth than ever before. Reasons for this include more complex family structures, people living longer and increasing property prices. The competing demands on family wealth can often give rise to disputes and the team has the specialist knowledge necessary to resolve the dispute or avoid a dispute occurring in the first place. With his knowledge and experience in this specialist field of law Matthew is a fantastic addition to our wider private client offering and we are delighted to welcome him to the team.”

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David Walmsley has been appointed as managing director for construction materials supplier SIG Distribution, a division of SIG.

He joins the group following a career that started as a management trainee with John Lewis then 25 years with Lyreco, a global office supplies group, where he rose through the company to managing director for Scandinavia, UK and Ireland.

He was also on the main board of Lyreco in France as group commercial director. More latterly he spent three years at Palletways as their UK managing director, a company specialising in express palletised freight across Europe via a network of 400 franchised transport operators.

“I’m proud to now be part of the team at SIG and look forward to meeting our customers, suppliers and stakeholders over the coming months, Walmsley said.

“Established over 60 years ago, the SIG Distribution division of the business now employs over 2000 people and whilst we have some challenges ahead, our foundations are strong and I’m determined that we’ll continue to develop as a customer focused organisation by employing the best people.”