Regional debt fund appoints new head of credit

02/10/2015

Toscafund announces its latest senior hire to head up credit management and deal underwriting for its new Manchester-based regional debt fund.

Mark Metcalf, 47, will join the Tosca Debt Capital Fund (TDCF) team as Head of Credit after spending more than 10 years as credit risk director with the Manchester office of Wells Fargo Capital Finance (formerly Burdale Financial), where he was responsible for a portfolio of more than £0.5bn of facilities.

With nearly 30 years’ lending experience, he has held senior roles at a number of high profile lending institutions, including 18 years in the asset based lending industry in portfolio management and credit underwriting roles.

Mark has also been instrumental in establishing and growing new regional offices for two different lending institutions, and he will utilise this experience to help TDCF expand its Manchester office, from which it will support businesses across the North of England.

He commented: “This move is an exciting new challenge for me. SMEs are currently under-serviced in private debt financing and my role will be crucial in facilitating the execution of deals and sanctioning of credit in short timescales to help businesses enter the next phase of growth.

“Having helped to launch new regional offices for lending institutions before, I’m looking forward to putting my skills to use for TDCF, especially as we believe that it’s the first debt fund to be originated out of the North West with a clear strategy to support regional SMEs.”

Gary Davison, partner at TDCF, said: “Mark is a first class hire for us, bringing with him many years of broad credit management and deal underwriting experience. In particular, his professional network of contacts is a key asset for us as a regional lender.

“His expertise in managing risk exposure, structuring deals and driving transactions will be invaluable for us as we look to establish ourselves as the lender of choice for UK regional SMEs seeking flexible debt capital.”

Martin Hughes, founder of Toscafund, added: “The TDCF team has been very busy since we launched the fund. Mark is a welcome addition to the team, which will assist in processing the many incoming enquiries.”

The TDCF focuses on offering flexible debt capital to SMEs based in the North of England. It aims to initially raise £110m by early 2016 and establish itself as the lender of choice for UK regional SMEs seeking flexible debt capital.

Posted by

Gary Davison
Partner