Bibby Financial Services Ireland (Bibby), Ireland’s leading invoice finance company, has announced the appointment of two senior executives to its business development team.
Mr Alan Marsh brings more than 25 years of relevant experience with him to his role as Business Development Manager at Bibby.
Mr Marsh joins Bibby from his role as an independent financial services advisor, having previously worked in Ulster Bank and Bank of Scotland (Ireland) Ltd, where he specialised in advisory work for a varied client base.
Among Mr Marsh’s extensive experience includes negotiating debt restructuring for SMEs with financial institutions, and debt management and loan purchase companies. Mr Marsh has also vast expertise in invoice financing, particularly for SMEs.
Also joining the business development team at Bibby is Mr David Lyons. Mr Lyons joins Bibby from Certus (formerly Bank of Scotland (Ireland) Ltd) where his most recent role was as a Relationship Manager, leading a team in the proactive management of a large portfolio of corporate and commercial facilities.
With more than 15 years of financial services experience, Mr Lyons brings considerable expertise in lending and debt restructuring to the team.
Welcoming the strategic appointments, Bernard O’Hare, Managing Director of Bibby Financial Services Ireland, said: “We have keen growth ambitions for our Irish business, and the appointment of two experienced financial professionals supports this strategy. We know that Irish SMEs are still cautious in relation to debt, and that access to finance is still a major concern for these businesses. I look forward to welcoming Mr Marsh and Mr Lyons to the team, and working closely with them both in our continued support of the SME community in Ireland.”
Bibby Financial Services Ireland is part of the Bibby Line Group, the world’s largest independent invoice finance company that provides €2.2 billion funding to over 9,500 SMEs in 20 countries every year.
Bibby’s invoice financing model supports businesses by giving them access to cash tied up in invoices. The facility is available to any business that sells goods or services and invoices customers on credit terms.
Bibby guarantees to process credit applications and make a decision on financing in five working days or fewer.
Last year, Irish SMEs availed of €52m in invoice finance provided by Bibby Financial Services Ireland, an almost 28% increase on the €41m credit facility approved by Bibby in 2014.
This was the highest growth in funding across all European markets in which Bibby operates, followed by Poland (25%).
Bibby supports almost 2,000 businesses in Europe through operations in France, Germany, Ireland, Slovakia, Poland, Czech Republic and the Netherlands. The financier has seen solid growth in client numbers across Europe since 2007, with average annual growth of 21 per cent.
Commenting on these strong growth figures, international CEO Steve Box said: “The requirements of our clients are constantly evolving depending on prevailing market and economic conditions and currently, we are seeing more businesses seeking finance to support their export sales growth. This is particularly the case in Ireland – where exports account for around 48 per cent of total economic output - and Poland where a weak Polish Zloty is helping to accelerate export activity.”
Article Published: 10/05/2016