Financial Sponsors

Andrew Clayton is National Head of Financial Sponsors at Santander, where he's responsible for leading a team across the UK working with management teams and private equity investors, providing leveraged debt financing solutions in the mid-market space. He has over 20 years of experience in working with and supporting mid-market businesses. Before joining Santander he was Regional Head of Structured Finance for the South and Midlands at RBS where he led many transactions covering a wider range of sectors. Andrew's also worked in Mezzanine Finance with NatWest and Corporate Finance as part of an independent London based boutique.

Gerry is a Director within the Financial Sponsors team having joined Santander in 2014. Prior to this, he spent six years at BDO working in the Transaction Services team in London. He holds a first class degree in Accounting and Finance from Newcastle University and qualified as a Chartered Certified Accountant whilst at BDO.

Nick is a Director within the Financial Sponsors team having joined Santander in 2014. Before this, he spent eight years at Investec as a CLO Portfolio Manager managing €1.5 billion of assets under management and also worked as an analyst focusing on large-cap European LBOs with a sector focus on TMT. He holds a degree in Biomedical Science from Kingston University.

Chris is a Director within the Financial Sponsors team having joined Santander in 2010. Prior to this, he spent 16 years at RBS, the last nine of which were with RBS Structured Finance. He holds a degree in Management Science from University of Wales, Swansea and is an Associate Member of Corporate Treasurers.

Saul is a Director within the Financial Sponsors team having joined Santander in early 2017. Prior to this, he spent nine years at RBS, predominantly in the Mid-market Leverage Finance team, delivering a number of Sponsor backed transactions. He holds a degree in Economics, Banking and Finance from Cardiff University.

Colin joined the Financial Sponsors team in early 2017. Prior to this, he spent c35 years at RBS, with the most recent 13 years spent in that organisation’s mid-market leveraged finance business. His Credit Structuring role involves a number of strategic initiatives aimed at further enhancing Santander’s capability in the Lev Fin market, as well as bringing his experience to bear to help shape new transactions.

Richard is a Director within the Structured Finance team who joined Santander in 2014. He qualified as a CA with Deloitte in 2005, and has 12 years’ subsequent corporate finance, recovery and business advisory experience across roles within EY, Bank of Scotland and overseas. Richard is focused on mid-market financial sponsor and corporate M&A transactions, as well as the provision of growth capital funding for fast growing SMEs in Scotland and Northern Ireland. He holds a Masters Degree in Chemistry from the University of Edinburgh.

Rhys joined Santander in 2017 having spent two years at RBS Leveraged Finance with an additional four years Corporate Finance experience across M&A and Debt Advisory Roles at KPMG and a leading mid-market boutique. He holds a degree in Accounting and Financial Management from Loughborough University Business School and qualified as a Chartered Accountant whilst at KPMG.

Ruth is an Associate Director within the Financial Sponsors team having joined Santander in October 2015. Prior to this, she spent four years working at Deloitte in the Restructuring team and most recently the Debt Advisory team in London. She holds a degree in Business Management from The University of Birmingham and is a qualified Chartered Accountant.

Carmen is an Associate Director within the wider Structured Finance team having joined Santander in 2016. Prior to this Carmen spent four and a half years in RBS, mainly in the Financial Sponsors team based in Bristol, working on mid-market transactions across the South region, as well as over a year at the Bank of England in the Financial Markets department. She holds a first class degree in Economics of Money, Banking and Finance from UWE Bristol.

Raph is an Associate within the Financial Sponsors team. She joined the team in 2018 after interning with Santander for one year, having previously completed a rotation in Foreign Exchange and Interest Rate Sales. Raph holds a first class honours degree in Finance from Durham University.