People: Business Sheffield grows start-up offer; Ultimate Finance appoints regional director; and more

THE Leeds office of Ultimate Finance has appointed Jamie Hunt as a regional director.

He joins the company having spent more than 30 years working in the banking and commercial finance sector. Having spent 18 years with Yorkshire Bank, he moved over to asset based lending with Aldermore before running his own brokerage.

During his career Mr Hunt has been involved in deals which have been used for MBOs, MBIs, start-ups, restructures and to provide cash flow solutions for established businesses.

He said: “I knew a lot of the team in Yorkshire and several of the others nationally, having worked with them during my time as a broker. I have always been impressed with their approach and willingness to get things done.

“The company has recently progressed to another level having received financial backing from its parent company Tavistock. With significant funds now available to lend I believe Ultimate Finance will quickly become a major player in the asset based lending market.”

Noel Haverly, Ultimate Finance’s head of sales for Yorkshire, the North East and Scotland, added: “Having operated in Yorkshire as both a lender and a broker, he is extremely well known and highly respected in the region. He also understands that brokers and clients alike need quick decisions and flexibility to find solutions for funding requirements both of which we can provide at Ultimate Finance.”

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CREATIVE SHEFFIELD, the City Council’s economic development agency, has announced the appointment of Andrew Bunn and Natalie Fletcher as Business Sheffield start-up advisors.

The duo have been running the city’s Business Sheffield Gateway service since it launched in 2014. Gateway is the one-stop-shop for the whole of Sheffield’s business needs and works by connecting pre-start-up, new and established businesses with free and confidential support to help them set up and grow.

With collective experience in starting and running a private business, delivering start-up workshops, networking events and diagnosing business support needs, Ms Fletcher and Mr Bunn bring a wealth of knowledge and fresh talent to the Business Sheffield Start-Up team.

Cllr Leigh Bramall, Sheffield City Council deputy leader and cabinet member for business and the economy, said: “A healthy small business culture is vital to a city’s economy and the number of businesses starting up and making a success of their enterprise continues to grow.   A lot of hard work goes into creating the right environment for businesses to succeed in Sheffield and a big part of this is making sure that the very best support is given to businesses in those early stages. The city has excellent accelerator programmes and strong and supportive business communities. The services we provide through Business Sheffield are crucial in connecting early stage-start-ups to these communities and supporting them from the foundations up to secure economic growth in the city.”

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Langleys Solicitors has strengthened its private client and agriculture team with the appointment of Maria Shone who will specialise in agricultural law.

A newly-qualified solicitor, Ms Shone studied law at Leeds Beckett University and completed the Legal Practice Course at BBP University Law School, Leeds.
She joins Langleys – which has offices in York and Lincoln – after training at Gosschalks Solicitors, Hull.

David Wood, partner and head of private client and agriculture at Langleys, said: “Maria is a valuable addition to our expanding private client and agriculture team and will contribute to delivering high quality advice and service to our agricultural and rural based clients.”