Allica moves to disrupt all SME financing options with trio of Fintech hires

Allica Bank, the ‘challenger bank designed for small-to-medium sized businesses’, has announced the appointment of three new ‘heavyweight fintech hires’ who will be charged with spearheading the firm’s imminent UK growth plans.

The announcement comes as Allica completes its latest venture funding round, securing a further £26 million enterprise investment from majority backer Warwick Capital Partners.

In its statement, Allica underlined its intent to place fintech innovations at the forefront of its UK drive, confirming the appointment of former Funding Options founder Conrad Ford as new Chief Product Officer (CPO).

Ford will lead Allica’s technology roadmap and product strategy, as the neo-bank launches a £100 million fund to help UK SMEs secure COVID-19 business relief financing.

Further to the £100 million fund, Ford underlined Allica’s potential to disrupt and re-energise all components related to SME financing, helping improve day-to-day operations 

“It’s crazy that no one has attacked this problem yet, when you think that established firms represent a quarter of UK GDP, far more than the micro-business segment that has received so much focus from neo-banks,” Ford said joining Allica

“I see no reason why we can’t build the best SME bank in the world, right here in the UK, and I’m delighted to have the opportunity to do so alongside this incredibly dedicated team.” 

Supporting Ford in delivering Allica’s new SME fintech services, payment sector veteran Andy Carroll will join the firm’s senior management team as Head of Payment & Accounts.

Carroll is the former Group Director of Products for international credit services provider Equals Group Plc, and will be tasked with leading Allica’s partner strategy and account strategy of Allica’s UK services.

Helping promote its new business services to UK enterprise, Allica confirmed the appointment of Chloe Fenton as new Marketing Director. 

Fenton is the former Marketing Director of SME finance provider Liberis and has a proven track record in tech marketing having previously led the creative accounts of Good Technology and Juniper Networks.

The trio of fintech executives will report to new Allica Chief Executive, Richard Davies, who joined the company this summer from fintech bank Revolut.

Enrolling its new executives and securing its new capital, Davies underlined Allica’s ambitions to become the UK’s next fintech unicorn: “It’s testament to our growth and the strength of Allica Bank that we can attract industry leaders like Conrad, Chloe and Andy. 

“It’s exciting to be able to bring onboard their depth of talent and experience to help shape the future of the bank as we develop leading edge product and marketing capabilities.”