A Manchester-based independent business finance firm which operates across the UK has bolstered its structured finance team with a new senior appointment to support the company’s ongoing expansion.

John Platt has joined PMD Business Finance from Natwest’s Corporate Banking team, where he worked for 14 years, most recently as relationship director.

In his new role as structured finance director, John will assist clients across the UK on all aspects of structured finance requirements including acquisitions, management buyouts, employee enterprise trusts (EOTs), restructuring and growth capital. The firm’s structured finance division was formed by PMD’s Callum Bull in 2020 and has since grown rapidly, supporting over £60m of transactions.

John will also lead a new property funding division which will see PMD offer specialised brokerage services such as commercial mortgages and development finance.

Tom Brown, director, PMD Business Finance, said: “Over the past year, PMD has grown from brokering £150m of lending each year to around £180m across a variety of sectors and clients.

“John’s appointment is an important part of our ambition to reach £250m lending in the next 12 months and to further cementing our position as the UK’s largest independent business finance intermediary.

“Over recent months, we have seen a significant rise in demand for property finance, both from introducers and clients. We are excited to be launching a new property funding division to support the requirements of new and existing clients in this area.”

John’s recruitment is the latest in a string of senior appointments at PMD in recent months, taking the company total staff numbers to 50.

PMD is based in Oldham, Greater Manchester and was acquired earlier this year by its management team – Tom Brown, Lee Schofield and Rob Dermody – from founders Peter Dobson and Mike Rodgers.

With over 150 funding lines, PMD provides solutions for businesses looking to expand, improve cash flow, purchase property or acquire plant, machinery and vehicles. In addition, it also assists businesses through its structured finance team in restructuring debt along with providing finance for acquisitions, management buyouts, EOTs and trade sales.

John Platt said: “I’m excited to be taking this step in my career, one which will allow me to be part of the story of one of the UK’s most exciting independent finance providers. I’ve known the team at PMD for many years and am looking forward to using all of my experience to help PMD clients and introducers with both structured finance and property finance requirements.”

Katy Leeson, MD of one of the world’s fastest growing digital media agencies, Social Chain, has become the latest Board appointment of Your FLOCK as the company enters its most intensive round of product development and growth so far.

Based in Manchester, Your FLOCK is the world’s first values-based engagement platform that enables companies to understand their employees’ individual values, how they align with company values and culture, and how to maintain that over time, so that companies can hire, keep and develop the best talent for business success.

Katy is the latest addition to the Your FLOCK Board that has recently added an impressive array of leading specialists, including Tom Auld in machine learning/AI, David Levine, tech start up and entrepreneurial growth, and Jess Jackson, who has supported myriad tech start-ups via her senior advisor role at The Growth Company, which was a key investor in the latest round. They join original Board members, Sandy Lindsay MBE, a serial entrepreneur and NED and Laura McGowan, a top HR specialist.

Katy has been MD of Social Chain for five years and has overseen one of the largest growth periods in the company’s history. She has been trialling Your FLOCK with some of her teams, which is what led her to her wider involvement on the Board:

“Using Your FLOCK, and hiring the right people, we have learnt more and more about our company culture and the needs of our team. Not about the marketing values but the real values of the people and our business,’’ she commented.

‘’This learning is the real deal of the company culture and is key for the employee experience at Social Chain, be that working from home or in the office. It’s all about the skills you can give your people as an employer. Not just skills for the job but skills for life, as happy people will create the best work for clients.’’

As Your FLOCK closes its latest investment round and emerges out of its tech start-up stage, Katy’s appointment is perfectly timed as the last piece of an extensive round of Board appointments which will ensure the company has the best chance of fulfilling its ambition to be the leading global SAAS product in the employee engagement space.

Your FLOCK has been working with a number of enterprises to pilot and trial the product and currently has a waiting list of more than 100 businesses wishing to take part in the next round of product development.

Founding Board member, Sandy Lindsay MBE, commented: ‘’The founding partners, Dan Sodergren and Michal Wisniewski, have carefully and very impressively crafted a Board which literally spans the full gamut of knowledge and expertise we now need as we move into the next exciting phase of development and growth. I’ve learned so much already from all of the longer standing exec and new Board members and Katy’s appointment is another ‘win’ for the business, especially as she has been hands on trialling the product in one of our leading target sectors: ‘fast growing enterprises’, so can give us some real insight.’’

Katy joins the already very diverse Board from mid-September. Unlike many tech start-ups, Your FLOCK’s Board comprises more than 60% women: “Working with Your FLOCK is going to be really interesting,’’ Katy concluded. ‘’Not just from a tech point of view, but from a people perspective. They are unlike many other data and people analytics start-ups. They don’t just talk about culture, values and diversity, they live it.”