The new chairman, John Murphy, who has also invested in the business, was a partner in international accounting firm Arthur Andersen & Co where he specialised in mergers and acquisitions, and insolvency and reconstruction. He has been a founder and managing director of private equity funds including Investec Wentworth Private Equity and Adexum Capital. He was a director of Investec Bank Australia from 2004 to 2012 and his extensive experience as a non-executive director includes Southcorp, Specialty Fashion Group, Vocus Communications, Ariadne, Gale Pacific, Australian Pharmaceutical Industries and Vita Group.

Grow Finance also welcomed Julie Elliott as a non-executive director. She has over 30 years’ experience in executive and director roles across banking, financial services and government. She is a non-executive director of Cash Converters International and P&N Bank, and a director of Asia Pacific Capital. Her previous positions include chief executive officer at Bank of Sydney from 2013 to 2016, chair of State Trustees and she previously led financial services teams in senior managerial roles at KPMG, NAB and Westpac. 

Grow Finance Chairman John Murphy said: “I am delighted to join Grow Finance at this time of great opportunity. Since the company’s establishment in 2015 the founders have built an impressive national platform, placing more than $700 million of loans to more than 12,000 customers. Despite the pandemic many businesses have adapted to change successfully, creating new prospects for growth. The management team have harnessed a broad range of product platform that helps SMEs to exploit these opportunities. I look forward to contributing to the company’s growth and helping our talented team achieve their aspirations for the business.”

Greg Woszczalski added, “It is with great pleasure that we announce the appointment of our new chairman and non-executive director. On behalf of the Grow Finance board and staff we welcome John Murphy and Julie Elliott to their new roles. We are already making an impact on the market, and their experience will benefit our growth as we create a strong and sustainable future for the company.

“I would also like to acknowledge David Fairfull who is stepping down from the board. He has made a tremendous contribution, and I thank him for his service.”

Grow Finance has a diverse portfolio of equipment finance, trade finance, invoice finance and insurance premium finance which allows clients to manage their liquidity effectively.

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Lee Clarke brings a wealth of banking and finance experience, most recently in the rapidly growing fintech arena, where he built and executed a successful go to market strategy for another company in the highly competitive SME lending market.

Prior to this Clarke held leadership positions at GE Capital, Allianz Finance, ANZ and Orix Australia as well as managerial roles at Bank of Queensland and St George Business Finance.

At Grow Lee is responsible for overseeing day to day operations of the company, which has more than 50 employees spread across all states, and executing Grow’s business plan.

Grow Finance Executive Director Greg Woszczalski said Clarke’s banking and finance, people leadership and operational skills would help Grow maintain and build on its rapid growth trajectory.

“Lee brings more than 30 years of experience to our leadership team as we look to capitalise on the strong momentum we’ve built over the last year when we increased our month to month loan origination by four times.”

“Grow Finance is the only non-bank SME lender in Australia that offers asset finance, trade finance, invoice finance, insurance premium finance and business loans, making Grow a one-stop shop for SMEs.

“Grow is seeking to raise capital and aggressively shake up the way Australian SMEs access different kinds of finance in 2021 and beyond. We aim to increase our loan portfolio to more than $1 billion over the next two to three years and ultimately meet the lending needs of five percent of Australia’s SME market,” Woszczalski said.

Clarke said he was pleased to join an organisation dedicated to making a positive impact to SME financing.

“I chose to join Grow because I am attracted by its purpose of helping Australian SMEs to more easily access a comprehensive range of finance solutions across both working capital and capital expenditure; particularly as many businesses seek access to capital to adapt to the new economic realities following the pandemic. 

“Australian SMEs deserve a better way to borrow and we are here to provide it,” he said.

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