United Trust Bank has appointed Keith Sangwin as head of sales for its asset finance division.

Sangwin (pictured) has spent over 30 years in the asset finance sector. He was previously sales director for asset finance at Aldermore Bank and has also held senior positions at BNP Paribas and Barclays.

He will report to UTB’s head of asset finance, Martin Nixon, and his main responsibilities will be to increase awareness of United Trust Bank’s products and services amongst the broker community and further develop the bank’s network of partnerships.

Sangwin said: “I am very happy to be joining the United Trust Bank team. UTB has great ambitions to grow its asset finance business and increase market share by building strong relationships with broker partners. Their success over the last three years is testament to the personal approach they take to doing business and their willingness to give brokers access to credit managers in order to get deals done. In my experience that’s the kind of service brokers want and I’m looking forward to helping Martin Nixon and the team, develop and strengthen relationships with brokers across the country.

“From a personal perspective I was also very impressed with how the bank is structured and run. The directors encourage an entrepreneurial approach to business and although UTB is a regulated, professionally managed bank it still feels very much like a small, close knit team with everyone pulling in the same direction. Having previously worked in some very large organisations, that was a big attraction and I’m looking forward to helping United Trust Bank grow its business whilst retaining its’ strong customer focus.”

Nixon added: “I’m delighted to welcome Keith to the UTB team at a particularly exciting time for the bank. Keith’s extensive broker relationships and experience at the highest level in building asset finance operations will be of great benefit to us at this stage in our development.

“We’ve seen consistent growth in our asset finance lending over the last three years and we are planning to introduce further products and services which will enable us to offer the United Trust Bank experience to an even greater number of brokers. With a 30% growth in lending in 2014 and targeted for another 30% growth in 2015, Keith’s arrival couldn’t be better timed.”