Amicus Finance is to launch a new commercial finance business, aimed at serving the small business and professional services communities.
Amicus Commercial Finance will be run by John Wilde and David Hogg, who built SME Invoice Finance (SMEIF) from start-up in 2000 to a national firm employing 80 staff, serving a 600-strong customer base and generating annual revenues of £12m at the time of its sale to Metro Bank PLC in July 2013.
The commercial provider will offer a revolving working capital facility powered by a proprietary funding platform and will focus on providing relationship-based, intelligent cash flow to owner-managed businesses with annual sales of between £0.5m and £5m. The firm plans to begin operating in January 2016.
John Jenkins, CEO of Amicus, said: “Large bank-owned subsidiaries are currently responsible for around 85% of small business lending but due to cost savings, many of them can no longer offer the type of localised, relationship-based service that is valued by smaller firms and professional services organisations.
“As many of the new entrants are focussing on larger businesses, Amicus believes there is a strong opportunity to provide a new proposition that combines high-touch customer service, innovative products and a transparent fee structure, powered by the latest technology.
“The launch of Amicus Commercial Finance underlines our strategy of broadening our proposition into other specialist lending markets which are poorly served by mainstream lenders. We are delighted that John and David will be leading this business. As two of the most experienced and successful leaders in this sector they have the skills, contacts and vision to build a business that will set a new benchmark in this sector.”
Hogg said: “There is a compelling opportunity to create a market leading brand in small business finance. We’re excited to have the opportunity with Amicus to build this business and we look forward to the challenge ahead.”
Wilde added: “In Amicus we have found the ideal partner with whom we can build a new proposition designed specifically around small businesses’ cash flow financing requirements. We believe that the market will welcome a fresh approach from a commercial finance provider that is able to combine the strengths of a relationship-driven service with technology-based processing power.”