Reward Finance Group has reached a key business milestone by growing its regional loan book to £15m in London and the South East, with the SME lender also opening its London operational centre late last year and quadrupling the size of its team. 

Reward has supported over 40 firms across the region by providing the working capital to drive increased revenue, innovate, create new jobs or navigate through a difficult trading period.

Further expanding its broker network, acquiring the best employee talent and its straightforward and flexible approach to lending has been major factor behind the success story. It is also due to the London and South East office being led by experienced asset-based lender Simon Adcock who has worked in the finance sector for over 25 years.

The company has seen the biggest SME borrowing within the property, transport, retail and wholesale sectors.

Amongst those firms in the South East to benefit from Reward’s support was a 300-year-old designer and wholesale supplier of children’s shoes to major retailers across the UK. The business secured a £1.2m facility and was dependent on the working capital to fulfil orders and overcome cashflow challenges caused by post-COVID manufacturing delays from the Far East.

Another firm to benefit is a new business venture based in Ipswich, which utilised a £295,000 facility to purchase property and land for future development. The speed of the funding deal was critical as it enabled the developer to quickly purchase the land as soon as it came onto the market and move forward with the construction at pace.

Simon Adcock, Reward’s regional director for London and the South East, said: “Since launching in London just 14 months ago, the rate of growth we’ve experienced has really exceeded our expectations and built on the strong foundations previously put in place in London and the South East. I feel the success is largely down to forging strong relationships with our network of brokers, building an experienced and talented team and working closely with our SME clients to understand their business needs. It is also really satisfying to know that our finance solutions are helping SMEs accelerate their business growth ambitions or to overcome a short-term financial hurdle.

“In terms of the year ahead, we’ll be making further hires, such as a new relationship manager in the Spring and further operational and salespeople later in the year.”

Nick Smith, group managing director for Reward, added: “To have achieved £15m of lending so soon after establishing a London presence is an outstanding achievement by Simon, the team and the wider business.

“Whether it has been inflationary pressures and supply chain issues or strikes and spiralling energy costs, the last 12 months has been a difficult trading period for many businesses across the capital and South East. I’m therefore proud of the work the team has done to help SMEs navigate through this climate of economic uncertainty and even drive growth in many instances.”