Direct business lender appoints operations chief

Lee Clarke
LEE CLARKE
Grow Finance - Chief Operating Officer
APPOINTMENT
GROW FINANCE
Date: January 2021
Position: Chief Operating Officer

Grow Finance has appointed Lee Clarke as its new chief operating officer.

Clarke has held senior roles at a variety of finance, lending, and banking organisations including GE Capital, Allianz Finance and ANZ. He also spent time in managerial positions at BOQ and St George.

"Lee brings more than 30 years of experience to our leadership team as we look to capitalise on the strong momentum we've built over the last year when we increased our month-to-month loan origination by four times," said Grow Finance executive director Greg Woszczalski. He says that Clarke's appointment will help the business continue to grow. "Grow is seeking to raise capital and aggressively shake up the way Australian SMEs access different kinds of finance in 2021 and beyond. We aim to increase our loan portfolio to more than $1 billion over the next two to three years and ultimately meet the lending needs of five percent of Australia's SME market."

Clarke says he chose to join Grow because of the organisation's dedication to make a positive impact in SME financing. "I chose to join Grow because I am attracted by its purpose of helping Australian SMEs to more easily access a comprehensive range of finance solutions across both working capital and capital expenditure; particularly as many businesses seek access to capital to adapt to the new economic realities following the panemic."

Grow has lent more than $723 million over the last five years.