Wyelands Bank, a newly-created UK bank for SMEs, has appointed Ian Flaxman as managing director of working capital solutions to grow its asset-based lending proposition.

He leaves HSBC, where he was a director responsible for deal structuring and execution of large corporate asset-based lending facilities.

Prior to that, he was head of structured financing at Aldermore, another UK specialist bank. He previously held senior management positions with Credit Agricole and the National Australia Bank, all with a focus on asset-based lending.

At Wyelands Bank, Flaxman will be in charge of expanding the bank’s product suite within receivables, inventory, asset and supply chain finance.

His appointment, the bank’s CEO Iain Hunter says in a statement, is evidence of Wyelands Bank’s commitment to helping manufacturing and industrial businesses to trade and grow by delivering “innovative and high-quality working capital solutions”.

According to the bank, it has grown rapidly since it opened its doors in December 2016, with total assets rising from £24mn to more than £600mn in the first 12 months. The bank now employs 38 people, having added 12 new members of staff over the past year, with another two joining the bank next month.

Wyelands Bank is part of GFG Alliance, which is owned by Britain’s wealthy Gupta family and also includes metals and industrial business Liberty House and energy and resources company SIMEC.

Earlier this year, the group took further steps to expand as a financial services provider, specifically focusing on working capital solutions, when it acquired an equity stake in Demica to provide inventory finance to global commodity producers and traders.