Bibby Financial Services appointed Sharon Wiltshire as UK commercial director, as it looks to grow its commercial finance capability throughout the UK.
Wiltshire brings 30 years of experience in commercial finance, having started her career at RBS Invoice Finance in 1987. She has held a variety of operational and commercial roles with BFS, including operations director and managing director for the funder’s operations in Leicester, Birmingham and Bristol in the UK.
The appointment follows Edward Winterton’s appointment as UK CEO in April.
“I first started at BFS more than 16 years ago and I have seen it go from strength-to-strength, becoming the relationship-based, global funder it is today,” Wiltshire said. “We have grown significantly in recent years and our expanding product portfolio is now enabling us to support a growing number of businesses, whatever their ambitions.”
Wiltshire leaves her role as commercial director – South, and as part of the organizational restructure, Mary Sharp has been appointed as her replacement.
Sharp has more than 28 years of experience in invoice finance and first joined BFS as commercial director – North in 2016. Prior to joining BFS, she held a variety of sales and operations management roles at Lloyds Banking Group and PwC.
Deborah Johnson, head of operations for BFS Yorkshire, has been named commercial director – North. She has 30 years of experience in commercial finance, having held operational roles with Alex Lawrie Factors and Five Arrows Business Finance, before joining BFS in 2008 as operations manager.
Speaking of the changes, UK CEO for BFS Edward Winterton said, “As a relationship-based funder, it’s our people that set us apart from the competition and I’m delighted to welcome Sharon, Mary and Deborah into their new roles. It is a testament to the caliber of our people that we’re able to promote from within for all three roles. With our new structure in place, I’m confident that we will be able to continue to grow our support for UK PLC, both in 2017 and beyond.”