Pivot has appointed a finance director and expanded three senior roles as the development lender prepares to handle larger and more complex transactions.
The changes follow Pivot’s management buyout, backed by Foresight Group, and strengthen its finance, investment, credit and strategy functions.
Clare Atkins has joined the board as finance director. Chris King has been promoted to chief investment officer, Slav Melnikovs to senior credit manager and PakSan Wu has become director of strategy and capital.
FINANCE AND INVESTMENT
Atkins (pictured) has 18 years’ experience in financial services and spent eight years at LendInvest, where she became a statutory director on the regulated board of its investment funds business. She joined Pivot in February 2026 and has been working on financial controls, reporting and process improvements.
Atkins says: “I joined Pivot because of its growth ambitions. Having spent eight years building my career in a fast-paced, agile fintech business, I wanted to apply that experience in a business at an exciting stage of its evolution.
“My focus is not only on building a scalable finance function, but also on ensuring finance plays a central role in strategic decision-making. By strengthening reporting, governance and control frameworks, we can provide the insight and confidence needed to support sustainable growth and position the business for its next phase of development.”
King will take overall responsibility for Pivot’s loan portfolio. He joined the lender in November 2024 and has more than two decades of experience in credit risk management and origination across real estate, leveraged finance and large corporates.
King adds: “Taking on the CIO role means having oversight across our whole portfolio at a real inflection point for Pivot. I’m looking forward to bringing a broader credit lens to the larger, more complex transactions we’re now taking on, and to strengthening how origination and credit work together as we grow.”
CREDIT AND CAPITAL
Melnikovs will receive expanded delegated lending authority and take responsibility for managing junior members of the credit team. He will also help to shape Pivot’s graduate and intern recruitment programme.
His wider remit includes managing the lender’s panels of professional advisers and service providers, including valuers, lawyers and surveyors.
Melnikovs says: “I now have the scope to lead on larger, more complex transactions and to build out our professional relationships with valuers, lawyers and surveyors in a much more structured way. It also means I get to help bring new people into the team and support their development, which is something I’m really looking forward to.”
Wu’s expanded role follows two years leading Pivot’s funding, treasury and capital management functions. He will work with the chief executive and senior leadership team on planning, capital strategy and growth initiatives.
He will also oversee efforts to diversify the lender’s funding platform and transformation projects, including the development of AI-powered tools for origination, underwriting and due diligence.
Wu adds: “Pivot’s trajectory means that we needed to establish a focus on overarching strategy and vision for the business. I am very much looking forward to developing partnerships and funding relationships that fit that vision and boost our overall proposition for borrowers.”
Shahil Kotecha, chief executive of Pivot, says: “We’re experiencing an exciting shift in our lending, partly as a result of our change in funding structure. The average facility size has increased, requirements are becoming more complex, and volumes are up.
“Clare, Chris, Slav and PakSan each bring enormous value to the business, and together they bolster our ability to continue to support brokers and developers as Pivot evolves.”
Foresight Group has supported Pivot for almost three years. In February, it completed an equity investment and provided a debt facility of more than £100m to the lender.
Oliver Bates, director – private credit at Foresight Group, added: “Pivot is an impressive provider in the development finance space, and we are fully behind their exciting vision.
“The evolution of the team indicates a strong outlook for the coming months and we have every confidence in their continued ambition to deliver outstanding solutions for brokers and borrowers.”
