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London-headquartered supply chain finance provider Greensill is responding to increasing demand and fast growth in the commodities and inventory finance sectors, making three new senior hires.

David Rigby (pictured) joins as managing director, global head of commodities finance, alongside Andrew Fairbrother as managing director, commodities finance, and John Goodridge as managing director, global head of inventory finance.

Rigby previously spent nearly 20 years at Bunge Geneva, where he held several trade and structured finance roles including senior director in Geneva and director for the Middle East, Africa and Turkey. His final role was leading the company’s global structured finance team.

Fairbrother joins from Xangbo, a physical commodity trading fund he founded in Singapore in 2009. He previously spent 13 years in Cargill’s trade and structured finance department, working in London and Geneva before becoming head of its Asian bank relations division in Singapore.

Goodridge previously spent nearly 15 years in BP’s oil trading team, where he held various roles including head of origination for West Africa and head of low carbon origination for Europe, Africa and Russia. Prior to that he was a director for structured trade finance at Standard Chartered, and an associate director for structured trade finance Africa at UBS.

Rigby will continue to be based in Geneva, while Fairbrother and Goodridge will both be based in London.

A Greensill spokesperson says commodities finance is “a fast-developing space with increasing demand”, telling GTR: “We believe it’s the right time to further invest and deepen our knowledge, enhancing an industry-specific approach to meet changing requirements for sophisticated clients.”

The spokesperson adds that all three new hires “have been in senior roles client-side, so we’re excited about strengthening our ability to anticipate and understand client needs”.

The broader supply chain finance industry is currently undergoing a period of flux. Criticism of conduct by some large buyers has led to calls for restrictions on extended payment terms, meaning some providers may have to tweak their product offerings.

Greensill has long been an advocate of shortened payment terms, and in Australia has committed to not working with buyers that offer terms beyond 30 days.

At the same time, the industry could be affected by suggestions buyers’ supply chain finance programmes should be disclosed as bank-like debt – moves that would likely be resisted by much of the industry.

More recently, the Covid-19 pandemic has caused a slump in global trade volumes, increasing the need for ways of freeing up working capital among both buyers and their suppliers. Many providers have reported a significant increase in demand as a result of the outbreak.