Close Brothers Leasing has appointed Richard Baker to the role of sales manager to help drive the team’s growth ambitions and to focus on a number of products, including its block discounting and vendor plans.
Baker (pictured below) has over 15 years’ financial services experience, working with some of the UK’s leading funders in a range of roles and sectors, including energy, broker, vehicle management, and wholesale funding, Close Brothers said in a statement.
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Baker said: “I’m delighted to have joined the team at Close Brothers Leasing and look forward to help grow the business within its target markets.
“The team has a very strong reputation and I’m really pleased to be a part of it. I feel like I’ve hit the ground running and the next few years promise to be exciting ones as we grow and expand our operations.”
James Fletcher, leasing sales director, added: “Getting someone of Richard’s calibre on board speaks volumes about our commitment to our brokers and their clients.
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By GlobalData“With his experience and extensive relationships, Richard is a perfect fit for the team, working alongside like-minded colleagues who share his commitment to customer service.
“I know it won’t take long for Richard to form a detailed understanding of our lending appetite and ability to help brokers and their clients to thrive through all economic cycles.”
Close Brothers Leasing
Through a network of intermediaries and brokers, Close Brothers Leasing provides specialist, structured finance to the UK middle ticket market, with transactions typically over £250,000 in value. This is achieved through several areas of financing:
- Transactions secured against assets that have long-term value and solid resale potential
- Formulating solutions for non-standard transactions, where a deeper knowledge of the asset plays a large part in understanding the customer’s needs and options
- Considering the health of the business rather than the value of the asset to offer covenant-based lending solutions, where well-established businesses demonstrating repayment ability enables the provision of funding for mission-critical investments
- Funding of receivables and refinancing
