The Bank of London and the Middle East (BLME) has appointed two senior figures from ING Lease UK as directors of its leasing team as it aims to grow its broker-led business.
Robert Harris, director of Financial Products, and Simon Lefevre, vice president of Financial Products at ING Lease were with the company for 21 and 14 years respectively, and BLME credited the pair with helping build ING Lease into "one of the leading mid-market lessors in the UK" before it was put into run-off in November 2012.
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Harris and Lefevre will report to Fred Yue, also a former ING Lease director, who joined BLME in September following a two-year stint at IT lessor Syscap.
Jervis Rhodes, head of Corporate Banking at BLME, said: "The experience of such well respected individuals as Robert and Simon working with Fred will enable BLME to become a leading player in the UK mid-market segment supported by our network of introducers."
BLME said in a statement the departure of ING Lease from the UK made it an opportune time for the firm’s leasing team, which has funded more than £500m in asset finance since 2007, to expand in the mid-market via both the direct and introducer route.
"It is unlikely that a single new entrant will replace the likes of ING Lease (UK) due to the capital and liquidity required to fund a leasing operation the size of ING.
"This provides an opportunity for BLME. However it will be a challenge for SMEs when liquidity and affordable financing is already a constraint," the statement read.
