Bibby Financial Services (BFS) has appointed Jim Davis as managing director for construction finance.

Joining BFS from Yorkshire Bank in 2011, Davis (pictured) held the role of head of sales for the West Midlands since 2011 and was instrumental in the opening of BFS’s West Midlands Business Centre in 2014.

Most recently he led BFS’s export finance team as managing director, spending the past 12 months leading the support for SME businesses that trade overseas.

With more than 26 years’ experience in financial services, Davis has held a variety of commercial finance roles at HSBC and Yorkshire Bank, where he specialised in asset based lending and invoice finance.

In his new role, Davis will be heading up a team of 50 in BFS’s construction finance team. He will be focusing on people development, training and cross function collaboration with the sales and operations teams to further develop BFS’s construction finance offering.

Davis said: “Extended payment terms from large contractors continue to hinder growth for subcontracting businesses. construction finance provides SMEs in the sector the working capital they need to operate in a market where there are few alternative funding options.

“The sector has faced many challenges in recent years, from the collapse of Carillion to continued uncertainty surrounding the UK’s departure from the EU. It’s more important than ever that subcontractors have the support they need to thrive and grow. I’m looking forward to developing BFS’s construction finance offering to alleviate some of the pressures these businesses face.”

Sharon Wiltshire, commercial director at BFS, added: “We’re proud of recognising and retaining the talent we have within our business so we’re delighted to appoint Jim as the managing director for construction finance.

“During his time with BFS, Jim has delivered fantastic results and I’m confident he will continue this journey by further enhancing the support we provide to subcontracting businesses in the UK.”