Working capital solutions provider Taulia has appointed Jamie Whiteway as its head of Asia Pacific (Apac), as the firm establishes its first physical office in the region. Whiteway will be responsible for leading a new team based in Sydney, Australia.

Whiteway joined Taulia as European sales director in 2016. Prior to this, he worked in the UK banking sector at HSBC and Barclays after moving to London in 2011. He is a chartered accountant, and previously worked at McGrathNicol, KPMG and Westpac in Australia.

Commenting on his appointment, Whiteway says: “I’m looking forward to coming home and sharing what I’ve learnt in Europe over the past seven years. I know there is a renewed push by Australian business leaders to provide capital-starved small businesses better access to finance from new sources.” He adds that he plans to expand the Apac team quickly in 2019, bringing in people from elsewhere in Taulia as well as recruiting local professionals.

Taulia is headquartered in San Francisco with locations across the US, UK and Europe. The company currently serves a number of customers across the Apac region, including Telstra and Rio Tinto in Australia.

Cedric Bru, CEO of Taulia, says: “Jamie is the ideal person to lead our new Apac team as we build upon our recent success in the region. He brings a wealth of knowledge to the role, and has extensive experience in helping Taulia’s customers optimise their financial processes and working capital.”

“We have taken the decision to begin our planned investment in Asia by establishing a physical footprint in Australia,” adds Whiteway. “This is the perfect time for us to be expanding in a new territory and region that is not only growing economically at such a rapid pace, but also leading the world in adopting new game-changing fintech technology.”