Rivers Leasing is an independent provider of funding to small and medium-sized enterprises, specialising in deals worth between £2,000 and £50,000.
Funds are used to acquire commercial solutions such as IT hardware, photocopiers, and vending machines, as well as medical and health equipment.
In 2020, Rivers Leasing was identified by the Financial Times as one of the 1,000 fastest-growing companies in Europe for the fourth year in a row, on the publication’s annual FT1000 list. The award is testament to the strength of the company’s ongoing organic growth, its strong relationships with brokers and clients, and its position in the leasing and asset finance market.
A personal service: every lease application is evaluated on an individual basis by an experienced member of staff, without relying on an automated credit score. This personal touch forms the foundation of Rivers Leasing’s strong relationships with commercial partners.
A focus on financials: the company is focused on the strength of the financial covenant rather than purely the value of the asset underlying the lease.
A focus on quality: a constant focus on the quality of the leases written.
The value of experience in financial services
The company’s team comes from a diverse range of professional backgrounds across managerial roles and international finance organisations, delivering flexible policies with good corporate practices.
Due to this flexibility, Rivers Leasing aims to achieve positive results instead of being hindered by a strict book of rules, prioritising a constructive approach and streamlined communications, while taking the customer’s financial status into account.
Brokers, suppliers and business owners are central to the way the company operates, harnessing highly valued, long-term partnerships for a healthy business.
Sustainable growth platform
The platform Rivers Leasing has created is reliable and has a track record of expanding the business.
The process started towards the end of 2016 through investing in new talent to enable sustainable and consistent growth, while maintaining the company’s distinct identity and further enhancing a team that was already professional and dependable.
In 2017, that growth continued when they were named for the first time in the FT1000 in 2017, the Financial Times’ 1,000 fastest growing companies in Europe for 2017. In addition, the company offered the public the chance to invest in a £3m Loan Notes campaign through Crowdstacker. Since then, the company has been named in the FT1000 for four consecutive years, an achievement that’s especially notable for its continued rate of growth despite a larger base and increasing competition for the prestigious award.
The team at Rivers Leasing
Ratan Daryani, Executive Chairman and Founder
Ratan is an entrepreneur with extensive Executive Director and Non-Executive Director experience in both private and public companies. At The Body Shop International, he was divisional financial controller.
In addition, he was Virgin Cosmetics’ initial finance director, then acquired the company from Virgin Group in 2008 and successfully left in 2010.
Ratan was CEO of Reflexion Cosmetics (listed on AIM), and successfully turned around a Swedish company specialising nutrition and skincare sales within the two years he was there as executive vice-chairman.
Until February 2016, Ratan was non-executive chairman of Aqua Source Algae Group. Since 2010, he has been integral to Rivers Leasing’s growth strategy and operations, as well as Rivers Finance Group Plc’s corporate development.
Michael Friend, Non-Executive Director
Michael is non-executive director of Rivers Finance Group and Rivers Leasing and Chairman of NBA Quantum. Michael has been a qualified solicitor for more than 25 years, with his most recent role as consultant solicitor with Harbottle & Lewis.
Michael has extensive experience in finance, company and commercial matters, including mergers and acquisitions.
In the late-1980s and 1990s, he worked for a finance firm based in Sweden. From 1997-2001, he was chief executive of PGA European Tour Courses Plc. He also has considerable experience in brand development (European Tour, Ryder Cup) and raising finance both for public and private businesses.
Stephen Bassett, Non-Executive Director
Stephen has worked for a number of respected and established global brands, with a large chunk of his career in senior management and directorships at organisations such as Broadcastle Plc, Lloyds & Scottish Finance, Lombard, Schroder Leasing Ltd, and Wyse Leasing Plc.
Over the course of his career, Stephen has been responsible for the management of numerous specialist financial departments, with heavy involvement in the planning and delivery of financial contracts and solutions.
Stephen was welcomed to Rivers Leasing in January 2018, having retired from working full-time as Wetherbys Bank subsidiary Arkle Finance’s managing director, with the company’s portfolio increasing from £30m to £85m over his watch.
Tim Shand, Business Development Director
Having graduated in business studies from UWE, Tim worked for asset finance subsidiaries of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group for 19 years. His roles included branch management, interim management at a problem business, specialist finance and technical positions.
After a brief spell at a specialist consulting firm, Tim joined the newly established Bank of Ireland Business Finance in 2001. He spent 11 years in various senior roles, including sales director for corporate and public sector, head of structured finance, and compliance officer.
After he completed this tenure, Tim took on a number of roles in consultancy and was also employed by a recognised asset finance broker, then joined the Rivers Leasing team in 2016.
Rishi Shah, Business Operations Director
Rishi is a key presence within the team, working directly with Rivers Leasing’s highly valued brokers, vendors and customers, and heading up the daily operational running of the business, including the front-line underwriting of lease and loan proposals.
Rishi develops and maintains relationships with the company’s panel of brokers and vendors, manages the customer service that supports end-user customer queries. His expertise includes the underwriting function, payouts and customer service. He has gained his knowledge and built his experience in the finance industry over his time at Rivers Leasing and as a result of this, is able to offer solutions that best benefit the needs of clients.
Rishi is the longest-serving member of the Rivers team and has been instrumental in the growth of the business. Having served as Business Operations Manager for six years, he became Business Operations Director in 2019.