B-North, a digital lender that is in the process of acquiring a full banking license, has appointed Nimisha Patel to its board of directors.
Patel is currently the Chief Digital Information Officer at the Cabinet Office, responsible for helping to shape the technology strategy at the centre of Government. Patel is said to hold 20 years’ experience in Technology, Transformation, and Risk Management. Before joining the Cabinet Office, Patel was the UK and International Chief Information Officer (CIO) at FTSE 100 listed insurer RSA.
Patel said that as a lifelong technology specialist, she is pleased to be joining the board of B-North.
“B-North shares my passion for technology and the way that intelligent use of new solutions can bring significant benefits to customers. I look forward to working with the company as they work to secure their banking licence and move towards delivering lending to the SMEs of the UK.”
Based in Manchester, B-North recently completed a £20 million Series A funding round. The Fintech seeks to disrupt the UK’s £150 billion SME lending market by establishing a regional lending bank. By leveraging a network of regional “lending pods” combined with a cloud-based banking system, B-North aims to deliver loans to business 10x faster than the industry standard.
Ron Emerson CBE, Chair of B-North stated:
“I am absolutely delighted that Nimisha is joining the B-North board. At the core of any successful business are its people and Nimisha is another excellent addition to the team, further deepening B-North’s rich pool of talent. With Nimisha’s extensive expertise in technology, and its role in financial services, she brings a critical complementary set of skills to the business.”
Jonathan Thompson, CEO of B-North further said that Patel’s appointment is perfectly aligned to their strategy.