ScotPac names next regional GM

Mr Leeds commenced his new leadership position on 10 November, replacing Jane Starkins who is now a director at ANZ.  

Prior to his role at the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) lender, Mr Leeds was most recently the APAC head of advisory and finance Hilco Global – a role he served in from September 2019 to October this year. 

Mr Leeds was also the head of banking and insolvency at the digital auction and retail company GraysOnline from 2017 to 2019; the executive director in equipment finance at GE Capital from 2006 to 2008; and the director of chartered accounting insolvency firm Ferrier Hodgson from 1995 to 2006. 

Mr Leeds is also a qualified chartered accountant. 

Speaking of his new role, Mr Leeds said he was looking forward to leading the business in “such a crucial time, especially in Victoria as the state’s economy opens up”.

“It’s a great time for Victoria and Tasmania’s SME sector to take advantage of growth opportunities – there’s never been a better time to maximise the funds available in an SME business and ScotPac’s solutions can have a powerful impact on maximising cash flow,” Mr Leeds continued, adding that he believes a large part of his new role is “solidifying already close connections with the broker and accountant networks in both states”.

“Accountants and brokers who want to be trusted advisors to their business clients really need to look beyond traditional funding to the more flexible funding sources that ScotPac can offer.

“We see ourselves as enabling the growth that many businesses might feel is being restricted under their current finance arrangements.”

The appointment comes less than one week after ScotPac confirmed that it had begun moves to enter the home lending space, announcing its first home loan offering and two property-secured products. 

Speaking last week, ScotPac chief executive Jon Sutton said: “Our new home loan for business owners will assist the hundreds of thousands of self-employed entrepreneurs who struggle to get home loans from traditional finance sources.

“The business owner then has the option, as their business evolves, to use their residential security for their future business lending with ScotPac, to quickly fuel business growth.”

However, Mr Sutton added that one catalyst for the launching of these products was broker and client feedback that suggested “yawning gap of underserved SMEs that actually want to use their home as part of collateral to expand their businesses”. 

In September, the SME lender published its latest 2021 SME Growth Index, which highlighted the challenges that business owners are facing with cash flow, and in turn with securing either a home or business loan. 

“In Australia alone there are 350,000 self-employed business owners who face challenges securing a loan to buy or refinance residential property,” Mr Sutton said.

[Related: ScotPac launches new mortgage offering through brokers]