The news follows its latest appointment of ex-Santander director Andrew Fraser, who joined as a regional relationship director amid plans for expansion in Northern Ireland.

Assetz Capital increased its regional relationship director numbers from 10 in December 2015 to 21 by the start of 2017.

The platform – which revealed in January that it had lent £200m since inception and plans to treble lending during 2017 – explained that at its current rate of expansion, it expects the number to double to 40 by January 2018.

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Stuart Law (pictured), CEO and co-founder of Assetz Capital, said that expanding its regional presence and gaining intimate knowledge of each area had been a key focus for the platform in 2016.

“The input and drive from each of our directors is directly linked to our 2016 successes and will only get more important going forward.

“As we expand and interest in borrowing through Assetz Capital increases, our regional relationship directors have the opportunity to specialise even further and reduce their territories as we hire additions to the team.”

Stuart added that most directors had more than 15 years of experience in the industry, including connections and detailed knowledge about their regional area of specialty.

“It’s a critical role which many alternative finance companies ignore, much to their disadvantage.”