Close Invoice Finance announces new regional sales director for East Anglia

March 2008

Close Invoice Finance, part of the FTSE 250 merchant banking group Close Brothers Group plc, has appointed Earl O'Connell as its new Regional Sales Director for East Anglia.

Earl joins Close Invoice Finance with an interesting pedigree. As well as gaining 10 years invoice finance experience as Business Development Manager for Venture Finance and Bibby Financial Services he has first hand experience at the helm of a growing business, as Managing Director of Japanese sub-engineering company, Iwata.

This all round expertise gives Earl a uniquely holistic perspective on the finance needs of growing business. This should support him in his new role where he is responsible for Close's sales and business development throughout the East Anglian region.

Commenting on his new role, Earl said:

"I'm pleased to be joining Close Invoice Finance at such an exciting time in its development. The company has a great name in the market place. We have just won Best Factoring and Invoice Discounting Provider at the Business Moneyfacts Awards for the third year running and, thanks to our unique paperless invoice discounting service IDeal, we have a nationwide reputation for market leading technology and service."

"As gamekeeper turned poacher, I understand the issues local SMEs face when funding their business - I've been there myself - and hopefully I can provide more than a few helpful suggestions on how to meet these challenges."

David Thomson, Chief Executive of Close Invoice Finance added:

"We're delighted to have Earl on board. His first rate knowledge of the invoice finance sector and experience of running an SME gives him a unique connection with our client base which will help us to develop focused product and services going forward. His appointment also marks an important step for Close which demonstrates our commitment to developing a broader network in East Anglia."