Best Startup
At Best Startup UK we track over 130,000 UK startups and over 500,000 people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top United Kingdom based Director operating in the Lending space. If you think a Director is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on editor@beststartup.co.uk.
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Companies House UK, Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Angelie Panteli
CFO & Board Director of LendInvest
Angelie is a chartered accountant and chartered tax adviser and has extensive experience in roles across both large global listed businesses and more recently, fast growth technology businesses. Prior to joining LendInvest, Angelie was at Blippar, the world leading augmented reality technology company. Angelie heads up our finance team and is a member of LendInvest’s Board of Directors.
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About LendInvest: LendInvest is the leading marketplace platform for property finance.
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Nestor Paz Galindo
Managing Director of UBS
Nestor Paz Galindo as managing director and head of sell-side and financial sponsors M&A for EMEA. Paz Galindo will join the bank from JP Morgan in March next year. Paz Galindo has spent all of his professional career to date at JP Morgan. He has held a range of M&A-related roles over 22 years, most recently including managing director of the bank’s European financial sponsors group.
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About UBS: UBS is a global financial services company that engages in the provision of financial management solutions.
Marc Wursdorfer
Managing Director of UBS
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About UBS: UBS is a global financial services company that engages in the provision of financial management solutions.
Karan Burman
Director of Shawbrook Bank
Structured Finance Associate Director
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About Shawbrook Bank: Shawbrook Bank is a provider of financial services including savings and loans in the UK.
Enrique Perez Hernandez
Managing Director & Head of EMEA Technology Investment Banking of Morgan Stanley
Enrique Perez-Hernandez is the Managing Director at Morgan Stanley & Co Ltd in London. For the last 20 years he’s been the head of EMEA technology and investment banking at Morgan Stanley, a global financial services firm and a market leader in securities, asset management and credit services. In 2010 he was promoted and moved from the Madrid offices to London. He previously advised the Madrid branch on takeovers, share and convertible bond issues, and acquisition financing. Enrique is skilled in investment banking, equities, corporate finance, capital markets, business strategy and financial markets. He holds a BA in business administration from Universidad Complutense de Madrid.
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About Morgan Stanley: Morgan Stanley is a financial services company that offers securities, asset management, and credit services.
Jessica Alsford
Managing Director of Morgan Stanley
Jessica Alsford is an Executive Director and Head of Morgan Stanley’s Sustainable + Responsible investment research team. Jessica joined the firm in 2005 and spent five years co-heading the Business Services team within Equity Research. In 2010, the team was ranked second in the Institutional Investor and Extel surveys. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Jessica was an equity research analyst at Cazenove. She holds an M.A. in social and political sciences from the University of Cambridge and is a CFA charter holder.
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About Morgan Stanley, Morgan Stanley: Morgan Stanley is a financial services company that offers securities, asset management, and credit services.
Frederik Wijsenbeek
Managing Director, Morgan Stanley Tactical Value of Morgan Stanley
Frederik is a senior private equity investor with fourteen years of experience in Europe and North America. During that time he has been responsible for twelve successful transactions across multiple sectors with equity investments ranging in size from €25m to €250m. From 2010 to 2013, he was the Head of Direct Private Equity in Europe for OTPP, a $130bn Canadian pension plan with a $12bn private equity portfolio. Between 2003 and 2009, Frederik was a Partner at Bregal Capital, a €2.5bn private equity fund backed by the Brenninkmeijer family. He started his career in New York at Securitas Capital, a $600m private equity joint-venture between Swiss Re and Credit Suisse. Frederik graduated from Stanford University with a BA degree with Distinction in Political Science and a minor in Economics. He subsequently completed an executive education program at Harvard Business School. Frederik is a board member of the ChildLine Schools Service at the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (“NSPCC”). He is a Dutch national.
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About Morgan Stanley: Morgan Stanley is a financial services company that offers securities, asset management, and credit services.
Ben Chisell
Director of Product of OakNorth
Ben Chisell is Product Director at Starling Bank, a modern mobile-only bank built to help customers gain better insight into their financial lives, and give them access to all of their financial products in one place through the Starling Marketplace. Ben wants to build a bank that truly puts the customer first, and solves meaningful problems that can have a positive impact on their lives.
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About OakNorth: OakNorth is the creator of the ON Credit Intelligence Suite – proven cloud software that transforms commercial lending
Adam Agius
Director, Debt Finance of OakNorth
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About OakNorth: OakNorth is the creator of the ON Credit Intelligence Suite – proven cloud software that transforms commercial lending
Luca Bassi
Managing Director of Bain Capital
Luca Bassi is the Managing Director at Bain Capital.
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About Bain Capital: Bain Capital is a global alternative investment firm specializes in private equity, venture capital, and credit products.
Christophe Jacobs van Merlen
Managing Director of Bain Capital
Christophe Jacobs van Merlen is the Managing Director at Bain Capital.
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About Bain Capital: Bain Capital is a global alternative investment firm specializes in private equity, venture capital, and credit products.
Nigel Walder
Managing Director of Bain Capital
Mr. Walder joined Bain Capital Private Equity in 2015. He is a Managing Director in the Consumer, Retail & Dining Vertical and a member of the European Private Equity team. He also leads our European capital markets activity and is a member of the recruiting team. Prior to joining Bain Capital Private Equity, Mr. Walder was an investment banker with J.P. Morgan. He occupied a variety of positions in London & Hong Kong, and most recently was a senior Managing Director in the European leveraged finance business. Mr. Walder received a BA (Hons) from Oxford University.
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About Bain Capital: Bain Capital is a global alternative investment firm specializes in private equity, venture capital, and credit products.
Colin Goldstein
Commercial Growth Director of iwoca
Colin is currently the Head of Partnerships at iwoca, the award-winning alternative lender. He is responsible for growing iwoca’s loan book through partnerships, and oversees collaborations with the likes of NatWest/RBS, Tide, Xero and Funding Options. He is also responsible for sales through commercial finance brokers and accountant referrals. Prior to joining iwoca, Colin was the Commercial & Product Director, at Redbus Media Group, a specialist media owner, where he was responsible for partnerships with Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury’s. Colin started his career as a strategy consultant at Accenture and has also worked in commercial roles at Littlewoods Gaming and betfair.
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About iwoca: Iwoca offers credit financing services for small businesses.
Robert Boot
Director of JLG Group
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About JLG Group: JLG Group entered the alternative finance sector with the aim of providing a real alternative to business banking.
Robert Boot
Director of JLG Group
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About JLG Group: JLG Group entered the alternative finance sector with the aim of providing a real alternative to business banking.
John Mclellan
Director of JLG Group
John McLellan is Chief Operating Officer of the wholly-owned subsidiary, Just Cash Flow PLC, and a specialist in business finance, including credit, collections and risk sectors. Before joining the Group, John ran his own consultancy, undertaking various projects across Pan-European Financial Services providers to optimise performance and reduce costs. Prior to starting his own business John held senior management positions with Aktiv Kapital (UK) Ltd, Cabot Financial (Europe) Ltd and Royal Bank of Scotland. John is a former Director and Council member of the Credit Services Association and is a member of The Chartered Banker Institute.
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About JLG Group: JLG Group entered the alternative finance sector with the aim of providing a real alternative to business banking.
Giles Andrews
Co-founder & Director of Zopa
Giles Andrews, CEO and co-founder Zopa, the world’s first P2P lending and borrowing marketplace. Giles has led the company through a period of dramatic growth that has seen it established as a real threat to traditional players, reaching over 2% market share and £160m in loans. Giles spent the first ten years of his career in the motor industry pursuing his interest in all things automotive. This included co-founding Caverdale in 1992, a start-up taken to a £250m revenue motor retailer and sold in 1997. After an MBA at INSEAD he set up his own consultancy business whose clients included Tesco and Tesco Personal Finance and which also provided start up advice and early stage funding for new businesses, until co-founding Zopa in 2004.
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About Zopa: Zopa offers peer-to-peer loans with low rates, flexible terms, and no early repayment fees.
Assaf Littner
Director of ezbob
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About : ezbob is a UK based software provider for banks and other financial institutions.
John Haines
Director of Software of JUST DEVELOP iT
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About JUST DEVELOP iT: Just Develop It (JDi) is a Hampshire based investment company that specialises in early stage and growth capital across.
Jay Francis
Director of Technology of JUST DEVELOP iT
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About JUST DEVELOP iT: Just Develop It (JDi) is a Hampshire based investment company that specialises in early stage and growth capital across.
Ben Rolison
Director of Sales of JUST DEVELOP iT
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About JUST DEVELOP iT: Just Develop It (JDi) is a Hampshire based investment company that specialises in early stage and growth capital across.
Sophy MacDonald
Director of Operations of JUST DEVELOP iT
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About JUST DEVELOP iT: Just Develop It (JDi) is a Hampshire based investment company that specialises in early stage and growth capital across.
Dan Short
Director of Support of JUST DEVELOP iT
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About JUST DEVELOP iT: Just Develop It (JDi) is a Hampshire based investment company that specialises in early stage and growth capital across.
Tim Armstrong
Managing Director UK and Product Development of Greensill Capital
Tim Armstrong is a member of Greensill’s European team, focusing on developing partnerships within EMEA. Prior to joining Greensill, Tim worked at KPMG managing a Supply Chain Finance solution for clients which utilised partnerships with leading FinTech companies in combination with KPMG’s suite of advisory services. Prior to that, Tim worked in the corporate finance team in Deloitte, working closely with the UK Government’s Department of Business, and at Morgan Stanley, in their securitisation team.
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About Greensill Capital: Greensill Capital is a provider of structured working capital financing to businesses globally.
Brett Downes
Managing Director and Chief Risk Officer of Greensill Capital
Brett is responsible for all aspects of credit and operational risk within Greensill. Prior to working at Greensill, Brett headed the EMEA Trade Credit Risk team at Citi where he was responsible for managing the credit and operational risk for the Letters of Credit, Trade Finance, Export Credit Agency, Commodities, Insurance Letters of Credit, and Supply Chain businesses. Prior to that he held various risk and front office positions at Commerzbank, Barclays Wealth and National Australia Bank. Brett holds a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Queensland, a Masters in Applied Finance & Investment from Macquarie University and a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from Melbourne Business School.
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About Greensill Capital: Greensill Capital is a provider of structured working capital financing to businesses globally.
Alan Chu
Finance and Operations Director of Beechbrook Capital
Alan is the Finance and Operations Director and joined Beechbrook in September 2014. Alan has over eight years of experience in private equity. He joined from Graphite Capital, where he was Financial Controller of the limited partnership funds. Previously, Alan worked in audit at PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he qualified as a chartered accountant.
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About Beechbrook Capital: Beechbrook Capital provides mezzanine finance and equity co-investments to support buy-outs of businesses by private equity.
Paul Brett
Managing Director, Intermediaries of LANDBAY
Paul has over 20 years experience in the financial services and lending industries and over 10 years specialist business development expertise. Prior to joining borro Paul worked at Fastcom as the Sales and Marketing Director and at SPML as the Head of Sales. He also formed the Mortgage Industry Association and brand “Freehold” by successfully bringing together 25 companies in the industry with a collective £1.6 billion of distribution. Paul also brings to the table several years of consultancy experience, devising strategies for several multi million pound turnover private companies.
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About LANDBAY: Landbay is a specialist Buy to Let mortgage lender using peer-to-peer technology to fund its loans.
Keith Aldridge
Managing Director, Amicus Property Finance of Amicus Finance
Keith created the Amicus group, having founded Capital Bridging Finance Limited (now known as Amicus Property Finance Ltd) in 2009, and is a driving member of the executive team. His domain experience and day-to-day interest lie in the successful running of Amicus Property Finance. He has over 20 years’ experience in financial services, both as a broker and a lender. Respected for his natural ability to forge successful business relationships, he prides himself on being very approachable, and on the end of his phone 24/7.
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About Amicus Finance: Amicus is a financial services group, delivering outstanding property finance, commercial mortgages and asset finance solutions.
Sandra Hope
Senior Director of Clydesdale Bank
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About Clydesdale Bank: Clydesdale Bank growth finance provides a range of innovative debt solutions for early stage, high growth businesses.
Andrew Stirrat
Associate Director of Clydesdale Bank
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About Clydesdale Bank: Clydesdale Bank growth finance provides a range of innovative debt solutions for early stage, high growth businesses.
Stephen Fahy
Senior Director of Clydesdale Bank
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About Clydesdale Bank: Clydesdale Bank growth finance provides a range of innovative debt solutions for early stage, high growth businesses.
Steve Clark
UK Portfolio Director of Clydesdale Bank
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About Clydesdale Bank: Clydesdale Bank growth finance provides a range of innovative debt solutions for early stage, high growth businesses.
Nick Edgar
Senior Director of Clydesdale Bank
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About Clydesdale Bank: Clydesdale Bank growth finance provides a range of innovative debt solutions for early stage, high growth businesses.
Ross Goodwin
Associate Director of Clydesdale Bank
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About Clydesdale Bank: Clydesdale Bank growth finance provides a range of innovative debt solutions for early stage, high growth businesses.
Barry Nixon
Associate Director of Clydesdale Bank
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About Clydesdale Bank: Clydesdale Bank growth finance provides a range of innovative debt solutions for early stage, high growth businesses.
Barry Nixon
Associate Director of Clydesdale Bank
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About Clydesdale Bank: Clydesdale Bank growth finance provides a range of innovative debt solutions for early stage, high growth businesses.
Liam Brooke
Co-Founder and Director of Lendy
Liam co-founded Lendy Ltd in 2012. He is responsible for the operational performance of the company such as underwriting, disposals, legals and other key professional services, while also overseeing the commercial broker relationships. Liam has a background in corporate finance, private banking and investment management. He developed his early banking career with Barclays Corporate before moving on to United Trust Bank as a property development manager before moving to Ahli United Bank in Bahrain to head up the UK mortgage investment proposition. On his return from the Middle East, Liam worked as an Investment Director for a small asset manager in Switzerland.
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About Lendy: Lendy is Europe’s leading peer-to-peer secured property lending platform
Nikolajs Smirnovs
Co-founder and Director of LandlordInvest
Nik holds a BSc. in Accounting and a MSc. from CASS business school. He is also a Chartered Management accountant (ACMA, CGMA) and holds an Investment Management Certificate (IMC). Nik has since graduation been employed as an in-house financial advisor at single family offices. He is currently the CFO of BILI Management, a Mayfair based single family office with substantial real estate investments.
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About LandlordInvest, NJF Capital: LandlordInvest is an online marketplace which matches professional landlords.
Mark Crocker
Executive Director of Madiston
Mark is an experienced General Manager in the software industry with a proven track record in opening offices, expanding internationally, turning around underperforming business units, raising investment capital, leading businesses through significant revenue growth/profitability, mergers/acquisitions and shareholder exits.
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About Madiston: Madiston offers a commercially available peer to peer/online lending software platform.
Sally Johnson
Director and Company Sec of Madiston
With a background in marketing, finance and administration, Sally worked with many IT and small business as a consultant. She joined Tim at his second business, Mondas, when it was a sole trader business, becoming Company Secretary and responsible for marketing. In that time, Sally was involved in the AIM flotation, two acquisitions and fundraising. She has taken products from launch to market leading positions, established quality procedures and helped small businesses grow.
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About Madiston: Madiston offers a commercially available peer to peer/online lending software platform.
Sally Johnson
Director and Company Sec of Madiston
With a background in marketing, finance and administration, Sally worked with many IT and small business as a consultant. She joined Tim at his second business, Mondas, when it was a sole trader business, becoming Company Secretary and responsible for marketing. In that time, Sally was involved in the AIM flotation, two acquisitions and fundraising. She has taken products from launch to market leading positions, established quality procedures and helped small businesses grow.
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About Madiston: Madiston offers a commercially available peer to peer/online lending software platform.
Terry Chow
Operations Director of Sphonic
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About Sphonic: Sphonic is a Context-Broker that leverages 3rd party vendor data with a workflow engine to enable fraud prevention, AML, KYC
Kristina Oliver
Managing Director of Growth Lending
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About Growth Lending: Growth Lending is a digital platform that provides financial services for companies.
Stuart Pearson
Managing Director of Sensible Lender
Stuart Pearson serves as Managing Director at Sensible Lender.
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About Sensible Lender: Sensible Lender is a lending business
Callum Ferguson
Director of Sonic Funding Partners
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About Sonic Funding Partners: Sonic Funding Partners provides businesses, landlords, and developers with short and medium-term funding solutions.
Jeremy Levine
Group Executive Director of Evolution Funding
Jeremy Levine is the group executive director at Evolution Funding. He is a former area manager at the First National Motor Finance.
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About Evolution Funding: Evolution Funding provides motor finance and technology solution for dealers to generate leads, improve compliance, and sell more vehicles.
Emma Shaw
Co-Founder & Business Director of Library of Things
Emma Shaw is a Co-Founder & Business Director at Library of Things.
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About Library of Things: Library of Things is a start-up that lends out products from drills to sound systems to GoPros from smart borrowing kiosks.
Sophia Wyatt
Co-Founder, Co-Director of Library of Things
Sophia Wyatt is a Co-Founder, Design & Product at Library of Things.
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About Library of Things: Library of Things is a start-up that lends out products from drills to sound systems to GoPros from smart borrowing kiosks.
Rebecca Trevalyan
Cofounder & Community Director of Library of Things
Rebecca Trevalyan is a co-founder at Library of Things.
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About Library of Things: Library of Things is a start-up that lends out products from drills to sound systems to GoPros from smart borrowing kiosks.
Davin Poonwassie
Co-Founder and Operations Director of Simple Crowdfunding
Davin was first introduced to crowdfunding in early 2013 and he spotted the opportunity that crowdfunding brings. At the end of 2013, Simple Backing, their first property crowdfunding platform focused on Peer to Peer Lending was born. After speaking to their customers, Davin soon realised that there was also a need to provide an Equity option, thus Simple Equity was formed. With a background in data, databases and information technology, Davin is well suited to this marketplace. Outside of crowdfunding, Davin is a business and property coach, helping others achieve their goals and aspirations. Davin is also a keen property investor, investing in parts of the UK and France.
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About Simple Crowdfunding: Simple Crowdfunding is a regulated peer to peer lending and crowdfunding platform, offering property finance.
Atuksha Poonwassie
Managing Director and Co-Founder of Simple Crowdfunding
Atuksha has been involved in Peer to Peer Lending and Crowdfunding since 2013. She is a Director of the UK Crowdfunding Association, and regularly engages with policymakers and Government to advance this marketplace for all sectors in the UK. Atuksha is also the 2017 national Venus ‘Influential Woman of the Year’ award winner and is recognised in the P2P Finance News’ 2020 and 2021 Power 50, making the top 10 cut. This list highlights the 50 most influential people in P2P. Being a firm believer in building a strong community and customer base, Atuksha uses her expertise to help property professionals raise finance, build a crowd, and stand out in the market, whilst providing better access to the UK property market to everyone.
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About Simple Crowdfunding: Simple Crowdfunding is a regulated peer to peer lending and crowdfunding platform, offering property finance.
