After announcing the appointment of a new Chairman to head its board in 2013/2014, B&C has also learnt that the National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers (NACFB) has held its first Board meeting of the New Year.

Jason McGee-Abe spoke with Marcus Grimshaw, Owner of master brokerage Fiducia Commercial Solutions and new Chairman of the NACFB, to find out more about his appointment, the trade body’s new Board and look forward to his vision for the Association…

B&C: Firstly, congratulations on becoming the new Chairman of the NACFB; how have you found the role so far?

MG: Thank you; it’s been a very hectic couple of weeks! I have now made all the Directorial appointments on the Board. I am working closely with Adam Tyler [Chief Executive] to plan how we can be as effective as possible as quickly as possible.

What are the responsibilities of the Chairman and are there any specific areas you want to help tackle and assist members with?

It’s about leadership to and overseeing the functioning of the Board to ensure that it acts in the best interest of the NACFB and its members. I will encourage the Directors to be engaged in their personal directorships more than ever, as we have many key objectives to achieve and this responsibility is more than the Chairman or CEO can achieve alone. I am sure as a collective we can achieve great things.

How did you initially get involved with the NACFB?

From a background in Financial Planning I co-founded our commercial brokerage Fiducia Commercial Solutions in 2003 having become aware of a gap in the product portfolio of financial advisers. Our work in this sector along with the development of our commercial sourcing software system led to an invitation for me to consider joining the board four years ago.

B&C understands that the first NACFB Board meeting took place last week, how’s the new Board looking?

The new board is a good mix of experience, entrepreneurial brokers and business leaders. I feel we are as well placed as we ever have been to take the NACFB forward in the next few years.

Who has been appointed to the Board and what are their respective Directorial roles?

The new Board, with their respective Directorial roles, is:

So, in light of the Board meeting and the New Year, what’s in store for the NACFB?

I aim to ensure that our knowledge and wide experiences are acknowledged and used to good effect in these difficult financial times. Our hard work and commitment will build on the brand awareness that is present within our industry; this will allow us to raise our profile within the business community.

We have worked hard as a board to increase the profile of the NACFB over recent years and our inclusion in Government committees, as just one example, shows that our voice is being heard. We also want clients to realise when you need commercial advice the first choice route for this is via a NACFB member, if we can do this we will have changed our industry beyond all recognition.