The alternative finance advisory business has been created by chairman Alwin Thompson (pictured above, right) and managing director Peter Black (left) and will assist SMEs looking to fund the growth of their businesses.

Snowball is fully independent with access to over 300 funders in the marketplace.

Both Alwin and Peter bring a broad range of business and finance expertise, with Alwin currently holding a number of non-executive roles with North West-based businesses.

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Peter has over 23 years of experience in the SME, corporate and large corporate arenas, worked for three major banking institutions and negotiated and/or underwritten in excess of £1.5bn in lending to UK businesses during his career.

“There is a huge amount of interest from SMEs and property developers/investors across a wide range of alternative finance options, including debt and equity crowdfunding, asset-based lending and growth funds,” said Peter.

“At a time when the banks have lost their appetite for lending, there are many strong businesses looking to grow, but they need funding to achieve it.

“Although alternative finance is becoming far more mainstream, there is still a lack of awareness of the many exciting options that are available and that is where we come in with a blend of finance, banking and business expertise.”