THE LEASING INDUSTRY BRIEFING
The latest news, views and numbers you need to know this month
News in Numbers
£350,000
Is the total in funds that AFPA members and friends have collected on behalf of their nominated charities over the last 10 years from all their events.
£175m
This much has been secured in SME funding by specialist commercial lender DF Capital under the British Business Bank’s ENABLE guarantee programme, a UK government risk-sharing initiative.
£500m
The amount pledged by White Oak, a UK non-bank lender, to provide to SMEs and mid-corporates in 2023. The company delivered £465m in funding in 2022.
12%
The amount by which total asset finance new business (primarily leasing and hire purchase) grew in November 2022 compared to the same month in 2021, according to the Finance & Leasing Association.
10,000
The number of deals chalked up by ConnectedFi on its network, a UK-based API platform that integrates asset finance brokers and funders.
People Moves
Ex-Metro Bank sales director joins Renaissance Asset Finance
Renaissance Asset Finance (RAF), the asset finance subsidiary of Arbuthnot Latham, has appointed Jamie Chaplin as sales director. Chaplin joins RAF with almost two decades of experience in asset finance. Before joining RAF, Chaplin was with Metro Bank‘s asset finance division for almost eight years, where he held the roles of sales director and, before that, head of broker relationships.
Source: Aruthnot Latham
Bury to succeed Verstraeten as UK country head at BNP Paribas
Emmanuelle Bury, currently Chief Compliance Officer for BNP Paribas Americas, is to take charge of the BNP Paribas London branch as UK Country Head from 1 March 2023. She will succeed Anne Marie Verstraeten who will become Vice Chairwoman of BNP Paribas UK, reporting to Alain Papiasse, Chairman of BNP Paribas CIB and of BNP Paribas UK.
Source: BNP Paribas UK
Thiel exits Lectura after 14 years for Invigors
Asset finance consultancy Invigors has appointed Petr Thiel as Senior Consultant in data transformation and standardisation, the company said in a statement. Thiel will guide the company in data analytics, AI, and digital architecture up to customer experience (CX). He will also advise on challenges in regulations such as ESG, CO2, risk and advise on asset-as-a-service (SaaS).
Source: Invigors
Ratcliffe returns to Bibby to navigate Marine Finance business
Bibby Financial Services (BFS) has appointed Paul Ratcliffe as Managing Director for its new Marine Finance business set to launch this year. Ratcliffe has 40 years’ experience in the maritime and asset finance sectors and began his career at BFS’s parent company, Bibby Line Group (Bibby), in 1980 when he joined his first ship, MV Dorsetshire.
Source: Bibby Financial Services
Ex-Solifi leasing specialist Pieter-Paul Barker joins Finativ
Consulting and advisory firm Finativ has appointed Pieter-Paul Barker as Consulting Director, the group said in a statement. Barker was formerly COO at White Clarke Group/Solifi and IT Director at FCA Bank. At Finativ, he will support clients with analysis, system & partner selection, design, implementation and programme management, the group said.
Source: Finativ
CHG-MERIDIAN appoints new chief sales officer
CHG-Meridian, a German IT specialist and asset finance company, has appointed Daniel Welzer to the board of management in the role of chief sales officer (CSO). Welzer, whose appointment will take effect on 1 January 2023, succeeds Frank Kottmann, who decided at the end of last year to leave following a decade of service.
Source: Finativ
Societe Generale appoints CEO of equipment finance division
French financial services major Societe Generale has announced the appointment of Odile de Saivre as CEO of Societe Generale Equipment Finance (SGEF).
Odile de Saivre whose appointment will be effective from 1 September 2022, will report to Diony Lebot, deputy CEO of the group.
Odile de Saivre, who is also a member of the management committee, has been working as the deputy CEO of the equipment finance division since 2017.
In her new role, she will continue to support the growth of customers and vendor partners, while aiding them in becoming more sustainable by taking steps such as optimising life cycle management and promoting access to equipment and technologies that are more eco-friendly.
Odile de Saivre will be replacing Jochen Jehmlich, who has decided to retire after more than a 20-year stint with the company.
British Ports Association chief executive Richard Ballantyne, following UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s announcement that the Freeports selection process will see the first sites in England set up by the end of 2021:
“This is a welcome development and by being more inclusive in terms of the number of freeports there might be, the government can now explore how to better deliver on its levelling up agenda without picking regions over each other. Coastal communities are often in areas of high deprivation and have also experienced challenges resulting from the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown so this potentially transformative policy will be welcomed across a range of suitable locations.”