Funding Circle bolsters Business Development Team with senior hire

By Bridging Loan Directory 20th April 2016

Funding Circle, the UK’s leading marketplace for business loans, has today bolstered its business development team with the hire of Neil Mullane, formerly Head of Business and Corporate Banking for Barclays across West London.

It comes as Funding Circle introducers, including commercial finance brokers, accountants and business advisers, help their clients to access a record £42 million in Q1 through Funding Circle.

Neil brings eight years of experience in commercial finance, and will play an active role in continuing to build the intermediary channel.

Prior to joining Funding Circle, Neil was Head of Business and Corporate Banking for Barclays across West London, supporting small businesses with a £250k to £25m+ turnover. Neil also held the position of National Performance Director for Barclays Business where intermediary finance played a large part of the overall lending performance of the business.

Funding Circle has continued to grow its dedicated business development team since launching in 2010, as marketplace lending proves to be a fast and flexible funding option for introducers looking to access finance for their clients. The team was recently named Best Alternative Business Funding Provider at the 2016 Business Moneyfacts Awards for the second consecutive year.

Launched in August 2010, Funding Circle enables businesses to access finance independent of their banks, whilst at the same time allowing people and organisations to earn attractive returns. To date, investors have lent more than £1.2 billion to over 15,000 businesses across the UK. Investors include 48,000 people, the government-backed British Business Bank and financial institutions.

Luke Jooste, Head of the Business Development and Property Finance at Funding Circle, said :

“Funding Circle’s simple process, fast turnaround times and personalised service set us apart from other lenders which is something introducers really value. It looks set to be an exciting 2016 and I’m very pleased to welcome Neil to the team.”

Neil Mullane, Performance and Commercial Manager at Funding Circle said:

“It’s an exciting time to be joining the business. The growth of Funding Circle over the last five and a half years has been very impressive and it’s clear that the intermediary market now views marketplace lending as a mainstream way for their clients to access finance.”

Funding Circle provides flexible funding options to suit almost any business purpose, including unsecured loans (from £5k to £250k), secured loans (up to £1m), asset finance (from £25k to £1m) and property finance (from £150k to £3m).

To apply, introducers complete a 3 step application process on behalf of the client, which takes approximately 10 minutes. Applications are reviewed by Funding Circle’s credit assessment team within 48 hours, and loans are typically funded within a week. To qualify businesses must have 2 years’ trading history (2 years’ filed or formal accounts) and a turnover of £50k.