Wyelands Bank, a new UK bank for SMEs, has appointed Stephen Rose in the newly-created role of deputy chief executive officer and Rachelle Frewer as its new chief financial officer.

Rose moves from Bibby Financial Services, where he held a finance director position, and before this worked in the same role at Hitachi Capital and as the CFO of Aspen Insurance (UK).

Frewer replaces Neil Sawbridge who joined Wyelands in 2018. Before her appointment she held the deputy CFO role at C Hoare & Co and prior to this worked as a finance director for the commercial division at Close Brothers and as a senior manager for group finance at Lloyds Banking Group.

The appointments are part of the bank’s strategy to help manufacturing and industrial businesses to unlock growth through tailored business finance. They both report to Iain Hunter, CEO of Wyelands Bank.

Rose will focus on the bank’s operations to help it grow, ensuring the bank continues to meet the needs of its business finance customers. Frewer will concentrate on the financial performance of the bank, making sure services are scalable while increasing the bank’s asset base.

Wyelands Bank launched in December 2016. It was formerly known as Tungsten Bank but rebranded to its new name after being acquired by businessman Sanjeev Gupta and becoming part of GFG Alliance. The alliance also includes metals and industrial business Liberty House and sister energy and resources company SIMEC.

Rose says: “Wyelands Bank plans to accelerate expansion this year as part of its commitment to help more industrial businesses to unlock growth. I’m looking forward to working with a dedicated team to help customers with innovative and tailored finance.”

Frewer adds: “We will support more businesses by ensuring we focus on what our customers need. I’m looking forward to working closely as part of the executive team to help drive growth and ensure the financial performance of the bank.”

The executive hires follow a string of appointments for Wyelands’ working capital solutions team. In April, Kevin Sullivan was hired as a relationship manager in the team and, in the month before, Kelvin Thomas and Henry Wheeler joined as regional directors. In June 2018, the bank recruited Ian Flaxman from HSBC as managing director of working capital solutions to drive expansion in its product suite within receivables, inventory, asset and supply chain finance.