Appointment follows Caroline Langron’s decision to retire 

The Sancus BMS Group, the specialist alternative finance services firm, is delighted to announce that Dan Walker will replace Caroline Langron as Managing Director of Sancus Finance in January 2018. Caroline has taken a personal decision to step down from her position as she moves into retirement at the end of December. Dan will be responsible for leading the company’s business strategy and growth and will be a member of the Group’s Executive Committee.

Walker brings with him a wealth of experience gained in advisory, executional and leadership roles.  A qualified lawyer, he spent the first part of his career at Linklaters advising clients with respect to a range of financing transactions including acquisition finance, property finance, trade finance and corporate loans. He then moved to Lloyds Banking Group where he was responsible for structuring, negotiating and executing a range of structured finance transactions focussed on optimising the bank’s capital and funding position and providing corporate finance advisory solutions for its clients.  He joins Sancus from Varengold Bank where he managed the Bank’s London office, including overseeing trading, operations and the structuring teams with a focus on originating and executing equity finance, real estate and receivables financing transactions.

As Walker explains: “The alternative finance market has an important role to play in meeting the financing needs of businesses today.  The opportunity to join a growing and dynamic business in this sector, with such strong lending principles and access to large funding pools, was impossible to ignore.”

The Sancus BMS Group has provided in excess of £700m of funding to SMEs and entrepreneurs over the last four years. The business attributes this continued growth to delivering fast and flexible financing solutions to clients. This, combined with diligent risk management, provides a transparent and professional service to borrowers, funders and intermediaries.

Sancus Finance specialise in the provision of Supply Chain Finance, which ensures faster payment to suppliers and property finance to cover purchase, bridging and development projects. In addition to this, they also offer two specialist finance solutions – Education Finance, designed for Educational Institutions and a Vendor Partner Programme for businesses looking to support the purchasing capability of their customers.

Andrew Whelan, CEO of Sancus BMS Group said, “We are delighted that Dan has decided to join the business.  His pedigree is excellent and will support our ambitious plans not only for Sancus Finance but for the wider Group.  He has deep technical knowledge of the challenges that businesses face when looking to secure financial solutions and has a proven track record in delivering relevant and practical solutions to support client growth.  I would also like to thank Caroline for her commitment to the business during her tenure.  Having joined the business in 2014, she has been instrumental in resetting its strategy, developing stronger working capital propositions and processes and building a talented team beneath her.  We fully understand her decision and are delighted to announce that we have secured her services from January in a non-executive consultant role, supporting Sancus with some key growth projects.”

As Walker concluded, “with the economy facing some uncertainty in the months and years ahead, Sancus is committed to becoming a leading player in the alternative finance market and I am looking forward to being an integral part of the senior management team.”