Assetz Capital hires relationship director

McDonnell previously worked at Aldermore for around six years, most recently as client relationship manager.

Prior to that he started his own business, Stamford Financial Services, and grew it to 35 employees over a seven-year period.

Before that he worked at Freedom Finance for around eight years as a business development manager (BDM).

Andrew Fraser, regional director for UK North at Assetz Capital, said: “I am delighted to be welcoming John to our team. His top-class CV boasts high quality experience in development funding, and as we target record levels of lending with our improved development finance, his appointment comes at the perfect time.”

McDonnell said: “Assetz mirrors my ambitions completely in its relationship-driven approach. My experience is mostly in development funding, so to be working with a market leader in that space is an exciting prospect. I can’t wait to take the ‘real world’ lending approach to market.”

Assetz Capital has made a number of key hires, including Andrew Charnley as managing director, Jason Way as business development director and Irene Thomas as its lending operations director.

It has also grown its loan origination team with James Evans and Paul Williams, who cover Merseyside and South Wales respectively.

Aros Kapital has pledged to invest £750m in the business over the next three years to help it grow its lending capabilities.