Amicus opens new Manchester office

The new office on Princess Street will provide SME lending, working capital solutions and short-term property loans through its three divisions: Norton Folgate, Amicus Commercial Finance and Amicus Property Finance.

John Jenkins, CEO at Amicus, said he was delighted to be able to cement the business in the North.

“Small businesses are increasingly turning to specialist lenders who have the local knowledge and skills to understand their specific needs. 

“Having built a strong business base from our property lending expertise we have significantly broadened our proposition into other areas of specialist lending.”

The new office will employ 20 staff to begin with as Amicus Property Finance relocates from its existing regional offices in Preston.

Amicus expects the number of staff to increase in 2017 and believes there is a strong opportunity to support local businesses looking to reach the next stage of growth.

“Manchester is a significant regional business hub and represents the first step on our journey to deliver the highest quality of service to our clients and to our intermediary partners on a local basis,” said John Wilde, managing director at Amicus Commercial Finance.

“Our presence in Manchester will be led by Sean Thomson who is well known across the wider Manchester business community.

“This expansion supports our commitment to providing solutions-focused, old-fashioned relationship values underpinned by state-of-the-art technology.”

Shoaib Bux, divisional director at Amicus Property Finance, added: “Manchester is the centre of the Northern Powerhouse and a part of the UK that is seeing high levels of growth despite an uncertain national economic backdrop.

“Our localised relationship-based approach resonates well with fast-growing SMEs looking for specialist lending.”

Robert Keep, managing director of Norton Folgate, concluded: “We have an incredible opportunity in the North to further develop and establish Amicus as the independent lender of choice and this will be achieved by servicing the local business community and providing them with efficient access to funding.

“Manchester has an extensive and established network of businesses and intermediaries alike and is the obvious choice for Amicus within the region.”