OakNorth makes four new appointments

SME specialist, OakNorth Bank has announced that it intends to expand its debt finance team with four new appointments and will also open a new Birmingham office to support businesses in the MidlandsSteve Mitchell and Marcus Hook will be based out of the bank’s newly-opened Birmingham office aimed at supporting SMEs in the Midlands, whilst  Martin Williams will be based out of London and Chris Mears will join Tom Windett in the bank’s Bristol hub which was launched in April.

The news follows an announcement earlier this year which saw the bank appoint a handful of debt finance directors, including Dave Rowlinson and Chris Swarbrick to oversee lending operations out of its Manchester office.

Ben Barbanel, Head of Debt Finance at OakNorth Bank, said: “The launch of our Birmingham office and senior-level hires come at a pivotal moment for OakNorth Bank as we look ahead to 2020 and the future lending pipeline. While we are of course being more cautious when it comes to assessing credit risk, we see the next six months as a key opportunity to not only prove the strength of our proposition but to also gain market share at a time when many of the high-street lenders will be pulling back.”

“As the second-largest city in England and home to almost 23,000 SMEs, Birmingham is an ideal place for us to expand our regional footprint. There are so many brilliant businesses across the Midlands who, just like us, will find opportunity at a time when many of their peers will be putting growth plans on hold. With the help of Marcus, Chris, Steve and Martin, we can take advantage of this further push into the regions and support even more businesses across the UK.”