Capitalflow Commercial Finance, which has offices in Belfast and Dublin, was set up by Harry Parkinson who had previously set up Close Brothers Commercial Finance in 2007.

Since opening it April, Capitalflow has already lent £10m to Northern Irish SMEs through a mixture of asset-finance, invoice-finance and asset-based lending.

Harry said Capitalflow was very excited about the opportunity it had to help businesses across the country. 

“There is a massive gap in the market for so -called ‘alternative’ lenders and the appetite for borrowing is there; which is proven by the fact we’ve already written deals worth more than £10m to local SMEs.

“I have a 22-strong team in place across Ireland and it’s the strength of our collective experience along with a very competitive offering that will set us apart from others in the marketplace.”

Capitalflow’s senior management team includes Diane McGregor and Marc Hawthorne as sales directors, while the lender is funded by Pollen Street Capital. 

Harry praised the support from Pollen Street Capital as he said its £300m funding pot was not the end to its ambitions as it targeted continued development.

“We will lend to a broad spectrum of SMEs, including start-ups and early-stage operators as well as established businesses, it’s a case of looking at the potential of a business and making a decision on that basis.

“We’ve got great support from Pollen Street Capital, who see this market as a huge growth opportunity. 

“We’re in this for the long haul and we think we can make a big difference to how businesses here are funded.”