By Karen Peattie

SIMPLY Asset Finance, a lender that specialises in supporting SMEs across the UK, has opened its first Scottish office.

The London-headquartered business, established in 2017, has chosen the Eurocentral industrial and logistics hub next to the M8 motorway due to its proximity to both Glasgow and Edinburgh.

It said it offers “an alternative finance model that looks beyond a balance sheet and credit rating”, enabling businesses to “continue to grow and provides stability to them in turbulent times”.

Simply’s chief executive Mike Randall said that having a regional office in Scotland would allow the business to expand its reach and further support the wider SME community. “The launch of this new office sends a strong signal about our commitment to Scotland, where we see significant opportunity,” he noted.

“At Simply, we understand that there is no ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to finance options and the support available needs to be closely structured to each business’ specific needs.”

The firm’s head of Scotland, William Devine, added: “Geographically it makes perfect sense to establish a base in Scotland to enable us to support the local sales team, customers, brokers and dealers.”

Initially heading up a six-strong team, Mr Devine added: “We believe this office is a significant statement of our intent to place ourselves at the heart of so much commercial activity and growth, and firmly enhances our regional presence for the Scottish SME sector.”

Simply has lent more than £700 million to over 4,700 small and medium businesses across a wide range of sectors including transport, construction, manufacturing, recycling and agriculture.

It said it was among the first lenders to be accredited for Government schemes to offer support to SMEs throughout the