Independent lender to UK SMEs and mid corporates, White Oak UK, appointed Jean-Marc Torre as the firm’s new CEO in the UK to oversee further growth in lending activity.
Torre has 30 years of banking experience and has spent the majority of his career being the country head and chief executive at various BNP Paribas Bank subsidiaries with a focus on commercial finance and lending.
Torre’s experience will further bolster White Oak’s ongoing commitment to providing flexible funding solutions to support the growth ambitions of UK SMEs and mid-corporates – an objective that has remained a constant since the firm’s establishment in 1986 under the former LDF Group.
The firm, an affiliate of White Oak Global Advisors (WOGA), has supported the UK economy throughout the Coronavirus Pandemic as an accredited lender in the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS). White Oak UK continues to support both new and existing customers by offering longer term financing arrangements, including working capital, asset finance and invoice finance solutions, which helps them weather current economic conditions, as well as providing capital for future growth opportunities, and thereby supporting the long-term prospects of the UK economy.
“I’m very pleased to have joined White Oak, one of the UK’s largest non-bank lenders, given its excellent reputation, experience and capabilities and thirty-year track record in the alternative lending space both in the UK and globally,” Torre said. “SMEs and mid-corporates are the backbone of the UK economy, and during these changing times it is essential that they are supported with the necessary and innovative funding solutions to help them grow and thrive, not only to aid our economic recovery, but to ensure we have a world-leading, competitive business landscape moving forward. White Oak is ideally positioned to continue to drive this effort forward – as evidenced already with a portfolio value of over £500 million.”
“We’re excited to have Jean-Marc join our team,” Andre Hakkak, co-founder and CEO at WOGA, said. “His experience and in-depth knowledge of the SME and mid-corporate space will be instrumental to ramping up our UK lending activity. In spite of the fallout from current macroeconomic challenges, we are confident in the resilience and success of the UK economy. With Jean-Marc at the helm we are perfectly placed to expand our support for UK businesses at a time when other traditional lenders are pulling back funding.”
