The Intermediary – September 2026 - Flipbook - Page 56
In Profile.
Reward Funding
Jessica O’Connor speaks with Elliot Seale, business
development director at Reward Funding, about the changing
funding needs of SMEs and the importance of relationships
in specialist finance
A
s increased economic uncertainty
and higher borrowing costs
continue to create more complex
funding needs, the role of
specialist lending is becoming
increasingly vital.
It is against this backdrop that Elliot Seale has
taken on his role as business development director
– North West at Reward Funding. While his
background in insolvency and restructuring might
seem an unusual route into business development,
Seale sees it as closely connected. Having seen
first-hand the pressures businesses can face
when cashflow challenges arise, he now works
to identify where access to finance could help a
viable business move forward.
That experience has also shaped his attitude
towards cases that may appear difficult on
paper, as he does not “get frightened by headline
negative figures.”
Seale explains: “I try and understand what the
requirement is, what they’re trying to achieve,
what’s potentially gone wrong in the past and then
see if there is a path forward for them. It helps
when you’ve got brokers involved, because they
can identify the issues early and work with us to
find a solution pretty quickly.”
A measured market
That ability to look beyond an immediate set of
figures is particularly relevant in a market where
businesses continue to contend with higher costs,
and more cautious investment decisions.
Seale characterises the health of the SME
market as “quite mixed”, with inflation and
borrowing costs requiring businesses to be
increasingly selective about when and where they
invest. Nevertheless, he does not necessarily view
that greater caution negatively, saying: “It brings
a bit more of a measured approach from business
owners. It makes them do a bit more thinking into
what they actually want and need.”
Within commercial property, meanwhile,
experienced investors are continuing to pursue
opportunities. Seale says: “We’re still seeing quite
a lot of experienced investors continue as normal.
They’re identifying opportunities that some people
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The Intermediary | September 2026
are being a bit more cautious on and, if anything,
it’s providing a bit more of a favourable market for
them. We’re still keen to lend on deals like that
with good fundamentals, but I do think lenders,
ourselves included, are carrying out a bit more due
diligence than we have done in the past. But that’s
not to say that the appetite is not there still.”
Beyond the numbers
In the current market, Seale sees speed and
certainty as two of the biggest priorities.
The sheer breadth of the lending market
can make finding the right solution difficult,
particularly as funding structures become
increasingly complex, and businesses contend with
legacy debt and requirements that do not fit neatly
within mainstream lending parameters.
Seale explains: “That’s where lenders and
specialist lenders like Reward can add our value.
onsidered approach, and we’ll
We take a more considered
look at the bigger picture rather than just the
numbers, which in this market can sometimes be
a challenge.”
This means looking beyond those figures and
standing the people behind a business, Seale
understanding
explains: “Wee meet everybody face-to-face. We’ve
school’ approach where we want the
got that ‘old-school’
ant to understand the reason for
partnership, we want
equest.
the funding request.
“If there’ss a short-term setback for a business,
ot to understand the context
then you’ve just got
ore business is still there, it might
around it. If the core
just need that leg up from somebody so they can
bounce back.
“It’ss about making informed, common-sense, but
also commercially minded, decisions.”
onomic conditions are also
Changing economic
influencing the types of finance businesses are
seeking. Seale sayss there is currently notable
demand for asset and property-backed funding –
particularly refinancing – as businesses that have
ostly unsecured borrowing over
accumulated costly
ears are now looking at whether
the past several years
assets already sitting on their balance sheets can
provide a more efficient route to finance.
re now actually turning to their
He says: “They’re
operty to consolidate and reduce
assets and the property
