I rarely write a piece like this, but I thought this occasion warranted it.
In the summer of 1986, on a Monday morning, I set off to London for my first day at Hambros Bank in their leasing and asset finance division, not really knowing what asset finance was all about.
Two years later, through Jonathan Wren Consultancy, I moved to Baring Brothers, where I funded companies like Atlantic Computers and created subsidiaries we later sold to Yorkshire Water and Moscow Narodny Bank. Worked through the IRA bomb in April 1993; the Bank didn’t close for a single day. At the end of February 1995, with our first son due to be born that day, we read on a Sunday morning about some issues with Barings Securities in Singapore. I said to my wife, nothing for us to worry about; I work for the bank. How wrong was I. Running through the press questions on the steps of 8 Bishopsgate is something hard to forget.
In 1999, now with two children, we moved to Manchester, working for Sovereign Finance plc’s Corporate Division on Deansgate, working with their Public Sector team, funding mainly Local Authority equipment, everything from commercial vehicles, fire engines to two police helicopters for North Wales and Humberside Police and even double-glazed windows. I also secured the first NHS Operating Lease for a Modular Offsite theatre and administration facility at Southport and Ormskirk. Another huge learning experience included sales, residual values, documentation, risk and credit approval and managing people.
In April 2004, I joined Chrystal Consulting, setting up their NHS Services alongside the established Local Authority Consultancy division, starting from scratch was a challenge but again leant a huge amount about what you can achieved through hard work and tenacity.
In March 2009, I moved to Solutions Asset Finance, focusing on supplier Vendor Finance for suppliers to the NHS. One of the first suppliers we secured a partnership with was Carl Zeiss, which we have supported for over 15 years and continue to, along with Schneider Electric, supporting their NHS Energy Performance Division.
Following the funding of the first Modular Offsite project in 2004, I’ve spent the majority of the last 15 years focused on this area of finance, funding over £700m worth of assets with modular suppliers across the public and private sectors, from single-storey theatres to multi-level complexes. Each project has its own nuances, complexities, stresses and strains.
Not quite ready to retire just yet, I’m sure there are a few more adventures left in the asset finance world for me, especially with the current finance changes within the NHS.
At each company I have worked, I’ve learnt a huge amount, good and bad, met some inspirational people, and hopefully made some very good friends. Too many to thank individually for fear of missing someone out, but you all know who you are.
A heartfelt thanks to everyone I’ve met and worked with over the last 40 years.
