BNP Paribas makes key UK appointments
20th September 2021
BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions UK has appointed Mark Richards as General Manager and Tim Pulleyn as his successor as Head of Partner Sales.
Richards (pictured) is a highly experienced industry professional with over 25 years’ experience, having previously held roles at both GE Capital and Hitachi. His career has been 100% focussed on vendor and broker financing, building strong long-term customer relationships based on understanding the importance of service excellence & partnership. In his previous role as Head of Partner Sales, Richards has been instrumental in taking the business to the next phase of the business growth and development.
In his new role, Richards will be responsible for the whole Equipment Logistic and Solutions business division, overseeing Sales, Credit and Operations across the following markets – Construction, Food and Agriculture, Materials Handling and Commercial Vehicles. As well overseeing the subsidiary company, BNP Paribas Rental Solutions, which specialises in commercial vehicle contract hire solutions.
On his appointment, Mark Richard commented: “Despite the obvious challenges of the last 18 months due to the pandemic, we have seen strong year-on-year growth across many areas of our business. I would like to say a huge thank you to all our customers for their support and trust in us during this period and to our staff for their commitment.
“The long-term view of BNP Paribas puts Leasing Solutions firmly at the heart of the group strategy, enabling us to weather the different economic cycles while maintaining consistency in our proposition, and to build lasting relationships with our partners in a mutually beneficial way.
“This, combined with the strong, talented team I will be working with as we enter this next chapter, makes me feel excited about the future for both us and our customers. For the leadership team and I, it’s critical we are in constant communication with our customers, hearing them so that we can listen, learn and act to deliver a service that is consistent, reliable and does what they need.”
Pulleyn is also highly experienced within the industry, as a proven credit and sales leader across a range of disciplines including global banking, international leasing and asset finance. Most recently having held the position of Head of Structured Finance at Metro Bank before joining BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions UK in 2019 as Head of the Broker division. Since 2019, Tim has fostered great relationships with the Brokers, making a significant growth impact, capitalising on his already extensive network of contacts and knowledge.
Pulleyn said: “I am delighted to be taking up this new role within the company. I feel proud to work for a business that is one of Europe’s most trusted providers of asset finance. As a team, we are committed to supporting partners with specialist knowledge to help them achieve their growth ambitions – performance through partnership. One of the ways we do this is by building strategic alliances, aligning our expertise to the needs of our partners through a deep understanding of their requirements.
“In the next few months, one of my priorities will be to continue to talk to our customers, understand where we can really add value in the leasing cycle and make sure we deliver that value consistently, day in day out.”
Richards said: “Tim’s appointment as Head of Partner Sales further cements our ambitions to keep putting our customers at the heart of everything we do. Tim and his team will continue to build real customer focus, ensuring it remains at the forefront of every decision we make.”
Rachel Appleton, CEO of BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions UK, commented: “I am absolutely delighted to welcome both Mark and Tim in their new roles. As General Manager, Mark will be able to build further on his achievements to date. Mark has proven his commitment to both our customers and our business, building a sales strategy, which focuses on adding value at every stage in the leasing cycle.
“Likewise, Tim has made a significant impact across our broker markets since joining us in 2019, using his wealth of knowledge to build a solid proposition.“