Access to Finance Specialist

The Growth Company’s (GC) award winning Business Growth Hub team have an exciting new opportunity for two finance professionals to join its Access To Finance (A2F team). Individuals will join an established, experienced and well respected advisory team. The A2F team deliver high quality business support to ambitious GM based founders, business owners and senior managers who are seeking funding and finance to support their growth aspirations.

A2F Specialists assess the growth potential of eligible businesses, diagnose any challenges to accessing finance, identify suitable funding sources and support with the development and execution of suitable fundraising plans. The team work with a broad spectrum of funders and investors covering equity, debt and where appropriate grants. Successful applicants will receive intensive ‘on the job’ training and support through an effective peer mentoring scheme.

**GC Business Growth Hub** is a community of professionals with a common passion to support businesses across Greater Manchester realise their ambitions. Since inception in 2011, the Hub has supported more than 15,000 businesses including start-ups, scale-ups and established businesses, providing strategic guidance, finance and funding advice, creating international links, and paving the way for innovation and people development across the region. GC work with the best of public and private partners, offering expert one-to-one advisory and peer-to-peer business support, events, specialist programmes, finance and much more. GC provides excellent career development opportunities.

**A2F Specialist Key Responsibilities**:

- Undertake and document through GC CRM system ( MS Dynamics ) a detailed diagnostic assessment for each client to understand their core business issues and make sound recommendations for appropriate actions to support their growth plans.
- Complete a detailed assessment of the client’s current financial position and develop a thorough understanding of current and future funding/investment objectives.
- Analyse and assess the client’s current level of ‘investment readiness’ offering support and guidance where there are areas for improvement. This includes supporting with appropriate aspects of business and financial planning ( Forecasting / Modelling, Pitchdeck development, Valuation, pitching skills and investor / funder engagement ).
- Develop a thorough understanding of the SME commercial / public sector marketplace, keeping abreast of market developments, and being able to signpost client businesses to the most appropriate forms of funding and / or investment.
- Develop and maintain a network of business / professional contacts capable of generating referrals into the Access to Finance Service and wider GC Business Growth Hub teams.
- Making sure clients are introduced in a timely manner to those complimentary internal or external services which are deemed to be integral to their aims, objectives and strategies.
- Critically ensuring the timely monitoring and collection of all client output and impact data is undertaken throughout the project and at the conclusion of each individual project, in-line with external funders’ requirements.

**About you**:

- A keen and demonstrable interest in progressing your career with a finance advisory capacity.
- An effective communicator who is confident and comfortable promoting the A2F Service both to internal colleagues, clients and externally across a wide variety of stakeholders.
- A highly motivated self-starter with a ‘can-do’ mindset who enjoys the process of developing and enhancing their connections via effective networking in a dynamic environment. You will possess the ability to engage and convert conversations into clients for delivery of innovative funding solutions.
- A clear understanding of the importance of a client focused approach in creating and working with a portfolio of businesses, encouraging engagement and commitment to unlock growth potential and drive economic development.
- Interest and awareness within the key areas of finance advisory support. Specifically, Interpreting financial statements, Investment readiness, and SME funding sources and solutions.
- Ideally have an interest, awareness, knowledge and / or understanding of the key national, sub-regional and local organisations and their role in supporting economic development and specifically business growth.
- Comfortable with the use of technology in delivering advisory services and communicating internally and externally in a fast paced environment.

**Skills Required**:

- Minimum degree-level education, or comparable business finance and funding experience.
- Professional, confident and comfortable communicator with the ability to change and / or challenge perceptions in a non-confrontational and constructive manner.
- Proven track record in managing the range of business finance and funding issues associated with periods of business growth.
- Demonstr