A business-to-business lender has moved into a new office in Bristol. Growth Lending has taken space at Clockwise at Finzels Reach and expanded its deal-sourcing team.
The company also has offices in London, Manchester and Cape Town in South Africa.
The head of the South West region, Chris Mears, will be joined in the new Bristol office by Johan van der Walt, who takes on the role of debt finance director. Mr van der Walt, who joined the company in 2018, will now focus on structuring and executing deals across Bristol and the South West.
The move comes after Growth Lending announced a £1bn funding partnership with Aros Kapital, a provider of structured capital solutions.
The agreement will allow Growth Lending to deploy loans of between £2m and £10m over the next five years to SMEs across a variety of sectors, including technology, media and telecommunications (TMT), healthcare and professional services.
Mr Mears said: “The launch of the new fund has already enabled us to provide transformative support to innovative businesses across the UK, empowering them to scale and make a meaningful impact in their respective industries.
“The addition of Johan to the South West deal-sourcing team enables us to strengthen our relationships in the region and have a positive impact on the businesses that operate here – many of which are exciting, fast-growing and in need of funding support so they can thrive.”
Mr van der Walt said: “Having worked closely with businesses in the Growth Lending portfolio as they experience a transformative growth phase, I am able to approach my new role from a slightly different angle.
“I am excited to bring this knowledge and experience to the front office team and have a positive impact by helping more businesses access funding in Bristol and the wider South West region.”
Since the close of the initial £200m fund from the Aros Kapital partnership, Growth Lending has already deployed more than £55m across 10 deals.
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