Earlier this summer, with the aim of injecting capital into enhanced SME finance vehicles. As part of their new strategy, GLI Finance has made a concerted effort to support UK businesses by putting alternative finance at the center of their work. With a number of strategic investments and partnerships already in place with 16 alternative finance platforms, it is no surprise that GLI Finance is welcoming as their head of Public Affairs and Marketing as of today.

Louise Beaumont founded Platform Black in 2010, and quickly established the invoice-trading platform as a leading alternative finance player in the UK. With over £75m executed within its first two years of trading, Platform Black was one of the first alternative funding platforms to enter into partnership with GLIF. Placing great value on this relationship, Louise mentioned that a large part of her decision to work with (and now for) GLIF was their commitment to not only financial support of alternative funding platforms but active partnership. GLFI actively supported her deliberate plans to further their growth aspirations and supported innovations for SME finance vis-à-vis the services provided to businesses by the platform. Her good experience with GLFI as Platform Black's institutional investor made joining their team an easy choice. 

I learnt of Louise’s new role last night, and got the opportunity to be one of the first to discuss the nuances of the new position with her. 

Louise will be responsible for establishing GLIF as the strategic partner of choice in SME finance not only in the UK, but globally. In essence, Louise explained that she has been mandated to position GLIF as one of the key stakeholders within the alternative finance community and ensure that GLIF play a significant role in defining the future of the sector to enhance SME opportunities and ensure responsible growth across the industry. To that effect, as part of her job Louise will work directly with the existing and new GLIF platforms to support their growth strategies and help them become leading players in their chosen arena.

Beyond supporting the existing GLIF stakes, Louise will oversee a larger engagement strategy including the marketing of GLIF to national and supra-national government funding institutions (akin to the British Business Bank) and non-institutional stakeholders, like trade bodies and other business networks. In effect, marketing activities will be centered not on only on GLIF but more specifically on engaging the wider SME community and pointing them towards alternative finance as a port of first call.

The last year has certainly shown us that GLIF is serious about alternative solutions for SME finance, and we are pleased to see them welcome Louise to their leadership team.

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