Falcon Trade Corporation has appointed Chris Sheard as head of UK and European sales as the company seeks to develop new business opportunities in Europe. He will be based in London and report to Will Nagle, Falcon’s CEO.

Sheard has a strong background in trade finance, having worked at Standard Chartered for 10 years, where he was director of commodity finance in London.

“Falcon is clearly going places so I am delighted to be part of making that growth happen,” says Sheard. “My previous experience in Europe will enable Falcon to make this region a big part of its growth story.”

“At Falcon we are determined to match our stellar global growth with similarly exciting growth in Europe,” says Nagle. “Sheard’s strong and proven trade finance experience and exposure to businesses in Europe make him the right man to exploit the many opportunities in the region.”

Falcon Trade Corporation, part of Falcon Group, is headquartered in Dubai but views Europe as a major growth region. Whilst Falcon is a leader in facilitating emerging market trade, it plans to grow its European business in order to contribute to achieving its stated goal of reaching US$5bn turnover within five years. In 2009 it passed the US$1bn turnover milestone at the same time, reaching record profits.