Stephen Deakin has been appointed as the new financial controller at BCRS, one of the leading non-bank lenders in the West Midlands. The appointment was announced following the exceptional growth in business over the last two years.

Having worked in practice for just under 12 years, Stephen has a wide ranging skill set and strong technical knowledge. His time in practice has given him exposure to a wide variety of businesses, across a number of different sectors, ranging from sole traders to a group of companies with a turnover of over £600 million. The majority of his clients were SME’s.

On his appointment Stephen commented: “I have joined BCRS as a member of the senior management team. This will allow me to use my finance background to help develop the strategy of the organisation and drive the business forward. I am also a firm believer that non-bank lenders like BCRS have a large part to play in sustaining the economic recovery by giving businesses in the West Midlands access to finance to allow them to create jobs and grow.

“This in turn will contribute to the social and economic well-being of the region as a whole. As Financial Controller at BCRS, I want to help the organisation to grow further, increasing the number of businesses we can help, whilst also ensuring that adequate accounting processes and controls are in place to facilitate this growth”, concluded Stephen.

BCRS recently celebrated another year of growth after successfully increasing business lending by over 40% in 2013.

Since being established 12 years ago, BCRS has lent over £16.8 million to local businesses and created or secured over 2,400 jobs across the West Midlands.

The BCRS loan fund was designed to meet the needs of local businesses that are unable to get loans from traditional sources such as the banks. Its sole purpose is to provide access to finance to enable businesses to grow and prosper by providing loans ranging from £10,000 to £100,000.

Paul Kalinauckas, Chief Executive of BCRS, said; “We are very pleased to add another experienced person to our growing team. Stephen will help shape and direct the organisation’s growth plans and we look forward to benefiting from the insight and experience that he will bring to BCRS now and into the future.”

In addition to his duties at BCRS, Stephen is also a board member and treasurer for Headway Black Country.  Headway Black Country’s vision is that any person with an acquired brain injury and their family, living in the Black Country, will have access to all the resources and support they need to enable them to live an active and fulfilled life within their family and communities.