Sales director in the North is appointed to the board at Centric

The independent financial services group, which employs 42 people across seven offices, including one in Leeds, said that Centric in the North provided funding lines of £23m in the first half of 2012 and it said the pipeline for the next six months remains strong.

“Thanks to our unique approach and with the help of our business introducers, our performance has been strong in 2012 and it is interesting to observe that there is an increasing focus on transactional and private equity led deals,” said Mr Bates, who added that the firm has just taken on a dedicated relationship manager for the North. He said the North has seen “a lot more activity” in terms of management buyouts and acquisitions.

Mr Bates joined the asset-based lending and invoice discounting company in 2008. He set up Centric’s Manchester office in 2008 and Leeds’ site in 2010. John Onslow, chief executive at Centric, said Mr Bates’ appointment to the board is merited by “his outstanding contribution, focus on customer service and winning market share”.

Mr Bates said: “I have enjoyed developing our footprint in the North over the past four years and am delighted to join the board. 2012 has proved to be another challenging year for SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises)and mid corporate companies, but it’s an exciting time for us, those businesses are increasingly recognising the value of ABL (asset-based lending).” He added that his appointment would give the North “an extra dimension of board presence”.

Meanwhile, the company’s half-year results also showed that EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes and amortisation) was up 23 per cent to £2.4m. It is aiming for a full-year EBITDA of £6.2m, against £4.3m last year.

In May, the company signed 11 new clients and facilities of £33m were made available. Sales volume is running at an annual rate of £1.7bn, 56 per cent higher than during the same period in 2011, the group said.

“Despite operating in an uncertain and recessionary economic environment, we have demonstrated that we can outperform the market. This is down to our focus on customer service, diligence and our unique ability to understand our clients and their financing requirements at a granular level and within a short timeframe,” said Mr Onslow, who has been appointed as chairman of the Asset Based Finance Association until December 2013.