SWIG Finance Grows Its Team as Cornwall Lending Tops £18 Million

A Truro-based lender that backs small businesses across the South West has taken on four new staff in six months.

Who has joined

SWIG Finance, which has its registered office at Truro Business Park in Threemilestone, has welcomed four new team members over the past six months.

SWIG Finance, which has its registered office at Truro Business Park in Threemilestone, has welcomed four new team members over the past six months.

Angela Abbotts joins as Senior Business Manager. Based in Bristol, she brings more than a decade in the finance industry, with a background in mainstream banking and experience in strategic planning and client management.

She is joined by two Business Managers. John Murray, based in Dorset, has worked supporting social enterprises through roles at NatWest Social and Community Capital and, most recently, Charity Bank. Craig Slater, covering Devon, has a background in business finance including 15 years at Barclays Bank and experience as a finance broker for One Stop Business Finance.

The fourth hire is Hayley Scott, who works part-time from the SWIG office in Threemilestone as Marketing and Communications Assistant. She is running social media and PR while continuing to grow her floristry business, Hayley Scott Blooms, which SWIG helped to launch with a Start Up Loan six years ago.

What it means for Cornwall

The new staff cover the whole South West rather than fixed patches, so all of them work with Cornish businesses as part of their role. SWIG describes itself as a Cornwall-based business that grows in order to support more people on their business journey.

The expansion follows a jump in lending. SWIG lent more than £18.4 million to small businesses across the South and West Country during 2025/26. In the previous year, 2024/25, it lent £14.8 million to 501 businesses, which it says helped create and secure over 1,272 jobs and generated £75.7 million in social impact.

SWIG bases its lending decisions on potential rather than collateral, which it says lets it support businesses when other lenders cannot.

Managing Director Matthew Wilde said the new team members’ “diverse skill sets will enhance our capabilities here at SWIG, allowing us to expand our reach and meet growing market demands.”

More figures are due in SWIG’s Impact Report, which is set to be published in June.