North West-headquartered specialist marketplace lender Assetz Capital has appointed
Andrew Charnley to the newly-created role of managing director.
Andrew joins the business having spent 28 years working in commercial lending across
various asset classes and having undertaken a number of senior leadership roles, most
recently at Together, a specialist lender, which offers short-term finance, auction finance,
personal, commercial and buy-to-let mortgages, development funding and secured loans.
Going forward, Charnley will focus on Assetz Capital’s lending side of the business. He will
oversee a team of 130, reporting directly to Stuart Law, Assetz Group CEO.
The appointment follows a raft of senior hires in the region, with Jason Way (business
development director), James Evans (relationship director) and John McDonell (relationship
director) joining the origination side of the business in recent months.
 
On his appointment, Andrew said: “Assetz Capital has consistently been a market leader in
the UK alternative lending sector, supporting thousands of UK SMEs and financing billions of
pounds worth of new housing.
“At the same time, Assetz has provided a desperately needed alternative to high street
lending which has underserved crucial economic sectors over recent decades.
“I’m excited to join the team at a critical moment in the Assetz growth story, as we look to
continue to drive market share and innovation, consolidating our position as one of the UK’s
top specialist lenders and a business which is growing ever more ambitious in terms of the
impact it makes on society.”
Stuart Law added: “Andrew will play a huge role in taking Assetz Capital to the next level of
growth as we set our sights on growing our influence in the wider housing market.
“One of our longer-term targets is to fund 25 per cent of the SME housebuilding sector and
Andrew’s vast experience will support that ambition.”

Manchester-based tech startup, Orka Technology Group, has strengthened its team with the appointment of a new CTO, as it continues to lead the UK’s WorkerTech revolution.
Andrew Tutt joined Orka, which creates digital solutions for hourly-paid workers and will head up the development team. He will play a key role in implementing Orka’s roadmap, developing our suite of products, including accelerating product development, growing the API integration programme and targeting growth in new sectors.
Bringing over 20 years of experience with him, Andrew is well known in the industry for overseeing cutting-edge specialist tech teams of software experts. He joins Orka from thinkproject, a leading construction and engineering SaaS provider in Europe where he spent over five years implementing the latest cloud software, technologies and methodologies.
Andrew said: “I am incredibly excited to be joining Orka at such a pivotal point for the business. Orka is already the go-to tech solution for shift workers. Having recently secured funding, the business is poised for significant growth over the coming months, and I very much look forward to bringing new products to market that will transform technology for hourly-paid workers.”
Tom Pickersgill, co-founder and CEO of Orka said: “Orka has been growing at pace over the past five years, creating an accessible, seamless and integrated service for hourly-paid workers. As we enter the next chapter of our growth plans, we are delighted to have Andrew join the team. He will play a vital role in accelerating the development of our products, growing our API integration programme, and breaking into new markets.”
Over the past five years, Orka has become the market leader in WorkerTech solutions for shift workers, with products including labour-as-a-service platform Orka Works, earned wage access solution Orka Pay, and shift worker passport system Orka Check.
This key hire is following Orka Technology Group securing a £3m Series A investment from venture capital investor Praetura Ventures earlier this year.

As Travel Counsellors one of the UK’s leading independent travel companies continues to lead the way in post pandemic recovery, the company announces its latest strategic hire, Mat Hanson as Chief Financial Officer. Mat replaces, Neil Barnes, who has been interim CFO since February.

Mat has worked in a range of sectors and businesses with extensive commercial experience leading finance departments and other support functions, driving strategy, performance and building outstanding finance teams. Prior to joining Travel Counsellors. Mat was CFO at Cawood Scientific and Concept Life Sciences.

Steve Byrne, CEO of Travel Counsellors said: “We are delighted that Mat has chosen to join us. He has completely bought into the Company’s values and will play a key strategic role in driving and supporting the next phase in the company’s growth. Mat will be an outstanding leader within the TC community and of the finance team who play such an important part in the Company’s success and supporting our travel counsellors. His background and experience across a range of different sectors will add considerable value to the finance team and business.

Mat Hanson, CFO of Travel Counsellors said: “I grew up in the North-West and it is an exciting time to join a Manchester based technology company that is leading the way in travel. Travel Counsellors has that unique mix of a technology business coupled with the personal touch and has a fabulous platform to scale further. This is a highly effective business model and I am delighted to have joined this successful, caring, forward-thinking community. I am really looking forward to supporting colleagues in our talented finance team and help them develop, build career opportunities for all and ensure the business has the finance team, systems and platform to scale effectively.”