Fintech lender Thincats has appointed Kenny Hughes from Metro Bank as its director of business development for Scotland.
Hughes joins the SME-focused finance firm having been the challenger bank’s London-based director large commercial for just under a year.
He has more than 20 years’ experience in corporate debt finance, most of it in London. He was director of corporate transactions for Royal Bank of Scotland in London and director of debt finance for oil and gas at Barclays.
Hughes, originally from Ayr, said: “ThinCats is making great progress in funding the mid-sized businesses that are driving the economy.
“I am delighted to be joining at such an exciting time for the non-bank lending sector, and look forward to using my experience to support the growth aspirations of Scottish businesses with bespoke funding solutions”.
ThinCats was founded in 2011 by parent company ESF Capital, with the name a play on the ‘fat cats’ blamed for the credit crunch of 2008. It provides business loans from £250,000 to £15 million and has now provided more than £500 million of finance.
It claims traditional bank lending is unfair to smaller firms and it has £800 million of capital to lend to medium-sized businesses UK-wide, through a data-driven model.
Head of sales Mike Hackett said: “We are excited to welcome Kenny to ThinCats. Kenny brings with him a wealth of experience and knowledge from his extensive career in business finance.
“He is a tremendous asset to the team and will play an integral role in bringing ThinCats’ proposition to businesses and their advisers across Scotland.”
