Bibby Financial Services announced that Steven Box has taken on the role of International Chief Executive Officer.

Prior to joining Bibby as European CEO in June  2015, Box held a number of roles at HSBC where he spent 35 years, 22 of which in the Receivables Finance and Trade & Supply Chain business. His most recent role with the bank was Global Head of Receivables Finance, covering over 25 countries with businesses ranging from start-ups to multinationals.

In addition to Bibby’s European businesses and as of January 1, 2016 Box, is responsible for operations in Canada, USA, India, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia, where the funder opened an office in August 2015.

Commenting on the announcement, Box said: “This is a fantastic opportunity with a truly client-centric business and I’m delighted with this enhanced role. I’m confident that Bibby Financial Services is in a great position to develop our funding propositions for customers worldwide.”

The news comes following the sale of Bibby’s Australian and New Zealand business to Scottish Pacific in December 2015. He says the business will look to focus and grow across Asia, Europe and the Americas, in addition to building on its existing transactional capabilities.

“We have excellent businesses across the world and we currently support more than 9,500 SMEs globally. Bibby has a fantastic reputation in the UK and we’re now looking to leverage our global footprint by focusing on key markets such as the U.S.A., Germany, France, Poland and Ireland. Additionally, in 2016 we aim to grow our omni-channel presence even further to enable businesses and advisors to transact with us across their platforms of choice”,  Box concluded.

Global Chief Executive, David Postings added: “Steven is a high calibre individual with unique experience of the international receivables market and fantastic leadership qualities. With Steven at the helm of our international business, I’m positive we will be able to significantly grow our support for SMEs across the world.”

Bibby announced in November 2015 that it has committed upwards of £770m in funding to UK SMEs, following a successful refinancing deal and in December the funder announced plans to launch Bibby Foreign Exchange in the first quarter of 2016 following receipt of Financial Conduct Authority approval.