Westwood Capital Finance has appointed Allan Underwood as a director as the specialist commercial lender seeks to expand its business.
Underwood joins the Beverley-based company after 35 years in finance, including 18 years in senior sales director roles at invoice and asset-based funder Skipton Business Finance.
He will join Westwood’s senior management team and help determine the strategic direction of the business, which was founded in 2022.
Owned by Darren Peacock and Gareth Fawke, Westwood offers bridging loans and commercial mortgages of up to £2m to small and medium-sized businesses, owner-managed companies, property developers, landlords and investors.
Underwood will be responsible for supporting the lender’s expansion through his network of brokers and other introducers, while maintaining its service to intermediaries and borrowers.
Underwood (pictured, centre) says: “The opportunity to join such an agile and relatively embryonic commercial finance lender like Westwood is hugely attractive to me and will be an exciting new chapter in my career.
“I thrive in environments like this where the focus is on service, slick decision-making processes and working collaboratively with brokers and other introducers to help businesses access tailored working capital at pace.
“The company has made fantastic strides to date and I’m very much looking forward to being part of its journey and helping provide the strategic input needed to help take it on to the next level.”
Gareth Fawke (pictured, right), managing director of Westwood Capital Finance, adds: “Allan has demonstrated throughout his career his strong financial expertise, experience and the commercial acumen required to make solid business decisions.
“His ability to transform a lender like us, by forging powerful relationships across his extensive introducer network, was a key factor in his appointment and will make him such a terrific asset.
“With the business still relatively in its infancy he also joins at the perfect time to help steer the future direction of the company and introduce fresh new ideas. He is widely regarded and respected across the industry and we’re delighted to have him on board.”
