Paul takes the reins at Clydesdale & Yorkshire Bank’s Corporate & Structured Finance team

Clydesdale & Yorkshire Bank has announced that Paul Shephard will be the new head of its Corporate and Structured Finance division.

Paul, who is currently regional director for the North West and Midlands will take on the role of divisional director, replacing Richard Kennerley who is moving to Brisbane to become state general manager for Queensland for the bank’s parent company National Australia Bank (NAB).

Paul joined Yorkshire Bank in 1992 as a graduate trainee. He spent four years in Newcastle where he helped to open the business unit before moving to the North West as a business manager. In 2005 he was made managing partner of the bank’s Manchester office and was appointed to his current role a year later.

Since then he has overseen investment of more than £800m in the North West and the Midlands and his team was named Acquisition Finance Team of the Year at the North West Insider Dealmakers Awards 2008.

Key recent deals undertaken in the North West and Midlands during Paul’s tenure include: the provision of a £22m package for James Fisher plc; the £33m public to private of Ascribe plc; providing funding for marine services group Viking Moorings; the £53m refinancing of National Accident Helpline; contributing to the $150m financing package for Innospec, the largest dedicated fuel additive company in the world and the £150m club deal for animal genetics business Genus.

Since its launch the Corporate & Structured Finance division has become firmly established as one of the major providers of acquisition finance for mid-market deals and is now increasingly being recognised for its funding capabilities in the corporate arena. The division is part of iFS (integrated Financial Solutions), the bank’s integrated, business and private banking business.

Mike Williams, executive general manager of iFS with Clydesdale & Yorkshire Bank, said: “Paul has been instrumental in developing the Corporate & Structured Finance business in the North West and the Midlands and has worked closely with his predecessor Richard Kennerley to make us a key player in the deals market. He is ideally placed to lead the business forward.”

Paul Shephard added: “Clydesdale & Yorkshire Bank have become an established force in acquisition finance and it is well known, and accepted, that we have remained genuinely open for business during the downturn. I am looking forward to helping to build on that success as well as further developing our presence in the corporate arena on a national basis.”