Bristol-based invoice finance firm Optimum Finance has appointed Lynn-Marie Stephenson as regional sales director for the North, highlighting its continued nationwide growth.
Lynn-Marie, pictured, will be based in Harrogate and will drive business development across a significant geographical region stretching from North Wales to Manchester, Liverpool and Newcastle, as well as Scotland. 
Lynn-Marie’s appointment means Optimum Finance is now working with small businesses throughout Great Britain and Northern Ireland, across a wide range of industries, to provide tailored working capital solutions and support business growth.
Lynn-Marie, who has a background in business development at RBS Invoice Finance and Barclays, previously worked with Optimum Finance founder and CEO Richard Pepler and COO Claire Lewis.
In her new role she is drawing on her expertise in building strong organisational foundations to drive lead generation and will work with prospects to understand their business operation and growth aspirations in order to provide effective cashflow finance.
Lynn-Marie said: “I’m delighted to be leading this new phase of expansion at Optimum Finance. We enable SMEs to prioritise what they do best while achieving the levels of growth that these businesses – the backbone of the British economy – deserve to attain.
“Now the company covers an even greater geographical region we are able to share our entrepreneurial expertise with more budding firms and ensure they have access to the finance facilities, knowledge and support they require to retain a healthy cashflow.”
Richard Pepler added: “Lynn-Marie’s appointment is another positive milestone for the company and we’re thrilled to now be providing our working capital solutions to businesses throughout the United Kingdom.
“Lynn-Marie is highly experienced in commercial finance and business development. Given her impressive skillset, I am certain she is going to be a strong regional sales director and a huge asset to the team.
“The growth of Optimum Finance is set to continue and we’re looking forward to what this significant geographical expansion brings.”
Optimum Finance was set up two years ago by Richard Pepler, the former chief executive and co-founder of Bristol-based factoring group Ultimate Finance to provide tailored funding solutions for SMEs to enable them to release cash tied up in client invoices.
It offers a range of flexible funding packages that grow alongside clients’ businesses. Products include invoice discounting and factoring as well as a dedicated credit control team if clients prefer to outsource this element of their financial management.
According to payment services consultancy Merchant Savvy, securing funds remains a major challenge facing many of the UK’s 16.3m SMEs – with nearly half experiencing barriers when trying to access finance.
