Folk2Folk hires first CMO to drive national expansion
FOLK2FOLK has hired a chief marketing officer and four business development managers to support its national expansion plans.
The peer-to-peer business lender named Giles Cross (pictured below) as its first chief marketing officer, who will be responsible for leading the marketing, PR and business development teams as the business targets £1bn in cumulative loans in 2020.
Cross has more than 20 years’ experience in marketing financial services, most recently at wealth management business Sanlam UK.
He will report into Folk2Folk’s chief executive Jane Dumeresque.
“There’s a growing understanding in financial services that the traditional models and associated behaviours of B2B and B2C are on the wane,” said Cross.
“The future is very clearly moving towards a human-to-human (H2H) approach. I’m delighted to join Folk2Folk, a company that is very much a H2H business and driven by its customers’ needs, supported by strong technology foundations.
“The team here want to set a new standard when it comes to making finance personal. It’s a great time to become part of the business.”
“I’m delighted to welcome Giles to the Folk2Folk team,” said Dumeresque. “His expertise across business development, marketing and communications will be invaluable in our next stage of growth.
“His passion for driving customer led businesses will help Folk2Folk stand out from the crowd as we expand across the UK, taking our human-to-human approach to finance, brand awareness and product offerings to both local businesses and investors.”
The Cornwall-headquartered platform is looking to re-position itself as the as the go-to financial provider for local businesses looking for secured growth-finance, start-up capital for new ventures or to refinance existing debt.
It has hired four business development managers (BDMs) to boost sales and open up new regional markets. Folk2Folk is planning to hire a further six BDMs by the end of 2017, to help grow its presence in key local communities across the UK.
The four new BDMs have a combined 90 years’ worth of business and commercial banking experience.
Steve George will be responsible for Dorset. Jonathan Hill will manage East Anglia, Andrew Buckley will manage Cheshire and Barry Chapman will join the team in Gloucestershire.
“Investing in quality people through our business development team is core to our growth,” said Dumeresque.
“It is important for a community-focused business like Folk2Folk to deal with our clients face-to-face and be within touching distance. By hiring experienced people, we benefit from their local knowledge, contacts and established relationships with professional services which is so valuable in making a great start in those new regions.”
Folk2Folk specialises in secured loans for businesses across the UK. Interest rates range between 5.5 per cent and 6.5 per cent based on the loan-to-value of the property that acts as security against the loan.
