RBS Invoice Finance (RBSIF) announced the appointments of Piers Harmer and Jon Hughes to the London-based RBSIF Corporate team. Both are extremely experienced in the invoice finance and asset-based lending (ABL) industry and joined the bank as business development directors. They are new to RBSIF with Piers Harmer joining from Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance and Jon Hughes from GE Commercial Finance.

In his role at RBSIF, Harmer has national responsibility for Financial Sponsor coverage and will work closely with private equity houses to demonstrate the benefits of using ABL to support their transactions. Based in the bank’s 280 Bishopsgate office, Harmer joins a corporate team that is focused on meeting the growing demand for ABL and to raise the profile of RBSIF’s appetite and expertise in this arena. He has 20 years of experience providing solutions in the Private Equity space. His move to RBSIF is actually a return to the group as he started his career on the NatWest Graduate Training Programme and worked his way up to the role of director of Acquisition Finance.

Hughes is also an extremely experienced lender, having worked for GE Commercial Finance for ten years as well as NMB Heller and UCB Invoice Discounting/Bank of New York. Prior to that he worked in the leasing industry. At RBSIF, Hughes will be focused on working with the London intermediary market and bringing to the team his experience of working as a business development director in the ABL field. During his time at GE, he spent a two-year secondment in America and in the UK most recently ran its Commercial Business Development team for London and the South of England.

Chris Hawes, director of Corporate at RBS Invoice Finance said: “Jon and Piers are both excellent additions to the RBSIF team and bring experience that our clients will benefit from hugely. Their appointments also strengthen an already expanding team and demonstrate our intent in the ABL market and commitment to developing our proposition and establishing ABL as a mainstream lending product of choice.”