Premier had recently been awarded a Broker of the Year accolade and Richard Doe, Paragon Bank’s MD (pictured above) said: “I’m delighted to welcome the Premier team to Paragon Bank’s asset finance division. Premier is one of the UK’s leading SME asset finance brokerages and, working together, we have a unique opportunity to expand our asset finance business by forging new and exciting relationships with SME customers.”

Doe’s appointment at Paragon Bank in July 2013 has been instrumental for the group’s current growth. His career background included experience with Kensington Group and ING Direct UK and he explained: “Paragon had for 30-years been a leading specialist in the buy-to-let mortgage sector. With the onset of the recession in 2008 securitisation, the company’s principal source of new funding, all but disappeared and the decision was taken to add capacity by way of retail deposits. The group obtained a banking license which enabled a firm platform for growth via diversification of both lending and funding.”

“As a consequence,” he added, “and with the group having a strong capital base, the decision was made to enter new markets.”

Key opportunity

A key opportunity came when Five Arrows Leasing Group, part of Rothschild & Co, came to the market in 2015. Doe said: “It was a company which possessed stable management and was well diversified – and seemed custom made as a platform for growth for Paragon Bank.”

The acquisition brought with it a series of businesses and subsidiary brands which would enable Paragon Bank to offer UK SMEs finance for equipment, vehicle and construction equipment, yellow goods and technology assets.

A series of re-branding exercises followed with, for example, Five Arrows Vehicle Finance being re-cast as Paragon Bank Vehicle Finance.

Earlier this year Paragon Bank recruited Gary Leitch (pictured below) to head the new asset finance division. Leitch brought with him an extensive background in asset finance including a series of senior appointments at Lombard – most latterly as MD corporate asset finance.

leitch gary1

He told Asset Finance International that he found the appointment at Paragon “quite compelling”. “My initial challenges,” he said, “were to invest in new systems and automation.

“At the same time, we needed to improve our effectiveness through transactional speed and other service levels.

“Another focus is attracting additional talent to supplement our existing skills and expertise.”

Leitch indicated that the nature of PBAF’s specialist niches is typified, amongst others, by its ownership of Specialist Fleet Services (SFS) and Collett Transport Services, both formerly Five Arrows Leasing Group companies.

He stressed that, originally established in 1992, SFS has built up a reputation as a competitive and flexible contract hire and fleet management company providing contract hire and vehicle leasing to the private and public sector.

In October 2013 SFS extended its contact hire offering with the acquisition of one of the UK’s leading municipal spot hire companies, Collett Transport Services, and increasingly focuses on the lease and hire purchase of commercial vehicles to the recovery, haulage, bus and coach, and self-drive hire sectors.

Message to brokers

Another sector specialism is the provision of finance for broadcast media, Pro-AV and other technology assets for freelance, SME and enterprise-level customers. Leitch added: “Paragon Bank Technology Finance also works with a number of vendors, including Sony and Canon, to finance broadcast cameras and lenses for film and TV production.”

Meanwhile, Paragon Bank Business Finance based in Southampton provides asset and invoice finance solutions for business of all types, sizes and status. It also specializes in new-start companies, management buy-outs and management buy-ins and will expand by building deeper links to broker distribution.

Both Doe and Leitch are ambitious and determined to significantly improve PBAF’s service delivery and have authorized a focused software implementation in conjunction with Turnford, a global technology and e-commerce solutions provider for the finance and leasing industry. The aim is to install a customized CRM system based on Microsoft Dynamic, operational throughout Paragon Bank’s Asset Finance business.

They are set upon creating a culture at Paragon Bank Asset Finance based upon “personal credibility, delivering value to our customers not just delivering money, being fleet of foot, being efficient in organizational execution and delivering quality service levels for our customers every time”.

PBAF is dedicated to its broker partnerships, which it is seeking to expand, and is an enthusiastic patron of the National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers (NACFB).

Leitch added: “My message to our brokers is ‘work with us through this growing phase. Please engage with us at every opportunity and let’s have a meaningful, ongoing dialogue.”

Paragon Bank Car Finance extends its motorhome terms

Alongside Paragon Bank Asset Finance, and also within Richard Doe’s purlieu is Paragon Bank Car Finance, managed by Julian Rance, which offers point-of-sale auto finance, predominantly sourced via brokers but also together with some dealer partnerships.  Within the car finance division is a specialism in funding motorhomes and recently the company extended its finance offering from seven to 10-year loan terms.

It is a sound tactical move since the motorhome market is growing significantly in the UK with a growth of around 21% in 2015 and currently over 225,000 of such vehicles on the roads. The company’s aim is for its supporting dealers to tap into this high-value market in the knowledge that Paragon can provide competitive interest rates and a flexible product capability.