Funding Circle has appointed a new business development manager for the South West.

Sarah Beard will be based in Bristol. Her career started with Lease Plan, where she spent three years as an account manager dealing with large car and van fleets. Following this, she spent three and a half years working for Hitachi Capital Business Finance, where she managed a portfolio of 30 introducers across the country.

At Funding Circle, she will be responsible for overseeing introducer relations across the South West. Her role will involve building, maintaining and developing relationships with introducers in the area.

This announcement follows growth at Funding Circle, with lending volumes via introducer channels growing by 50% quarter-on-quarter – bringing the 2016 year-end total to £187 million. Across all channels, investors through Funding Circle lent a total of £1.1 billion to small businesses globally in 2016.

Neil Mullane, who leads Funding Circle’s introducer team, said: “It’s great to have Sarah on board, she will be a huge asset to the introducer team. With a dedicated account manager and funds typically received within seven days, Funding Circle is able to offer a faster, more personalised service and Sarah will undoubtedly be an excellent ambassador.

“Her deep understanding of the introducer environment in the South West will be extremely valuable in what is a very important region for Funding Circle.”

Beard said: “I’m very excited to be joining Funding Circle during a period of huge growth for the business. I love their innovative approach to supporting small businesses – I’m passionate about supporting the backbone of the British economy which is what drew me to Funding Circle.

“I look forward to building many great relationships with introducers in the South West of England.”