BCRS appoints business development manager for Staffordshire

Mark Savill has joined the West Midlands-based business lender to support businesses across Staffordshire and the surrounding areas which are looking for finance to achieve growth and make a positive contribution to the economic wellbeing of the region.

With a 30-year career at NatWest, including 15 years spent as a relationship manager in commercial banking, Mark brings a wealth of industry knowledge and expertise. He has joined BCRS having previously managed his own mortgage broker business since 2016.

Mark said: “I am really looking forward to working with the small business community and supporting SMEs with the funding they need to achieve their goals.

“My first impressions of the BCRS team have been great. I like how the organisation takes a relationship-based, face-to-face approach to lending and is committed to supporting businesses overlooked by traditional lenders. BCRS has a strong reputation as a responsible lender.”

BCRS Business Loans Chief Executive Stephen Deakin said: “I am pleased to welcome Mark to our Business Development team. His experience working closely with business owners and company directors to provide finance and banking services will be a great asset to BCRS.

“At BCRS we believe that no viable business should go unsupported. Mark will play a key role in helping small and medium sized businesses across Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire gain access to finance so that they can grow, create employment opportunities and make a positive contribution to the region.”

BCRS Business Loans offers loans to SMEs across the West Midlands and Wales who are unable to access finance from traditional sources by providing secure loans from between £10,000 and £150,000 to support growth and recovery plans.

This March BCRS Business Loans was appointed as one of the fund managers for the new Midlands Engine Investment Fund II, which will deliver a £400m commitment of new funding for businesses across the Midlands.

BCRS is also a delivery partner for the first £130 million Investment Fund for Wales, which launched in November, and the latest £62m Community Investment Enterprise Fund (CIEF), which aims to invest in 800 small businesses nationally.

Since BCRS Business Loans was founded in 2002, it has provided loans worth more than £85 million to businesses. A social impact report for the last financial year showed BCRS lent £6.5m to 72 businesses, safeguarding 999 jobs and creating 473 roles, adding £33.7m in value to the economy of the West Midlands and surrounding regions.