Reward Funding appoints Nick Smith as CEO

Reward Funding has appointed its group managing director Nick Smith as chief executive officer, marking a new phase in the company’s growth and strategic development.

The business also announced that group financial director David Harrop has been promoted to chief financial officer.

Smith has been with Reward Funding for a decade and has played a key role in expanding the company’s lending platform and strengthening its presence across the UK. As part of his new role, he has also become a shareholder in the business.

The appointments follow a year of growth for the alternative finance provider. In 2025, the company surpassed a £350m loan book for the first time in its 15-year history and was named among The Sunday Times’ Best Places to Work for the second consecutive year.

Since its launch, Reward Funding has provided more than £1.45bn in funding to over 2,000 clients, supporting small and medium-sized enterprises across the UK.

During the year, the business also expanded its regional presence by adding new team members across the Midlands, Greater London and the North East to support increased deal activity and demand from SMEs.

Smith said the company was entering an important stage in its development.

“After a record 2025, this year is already off to a great start, and I couldn’t be prouder to be taking on the CEO role at this pivotal time for Reward,” he said.

“The progress we have made reflects the strength of our team, the trust of our introducers and the resilience of the businesses we support every day.”

Harrop said the company remained well positioned to support SMEs after raising institutional capital in 2025.

“Following our successful institutional capital raise in 2025, we have posted another 12 months of profitable growth and sit with significant committed funds to deploy to support our SME clients,” he said.

“My job as CFO is to ensure Reward continues to scale responsibly by delivering the strong financial backing our customers rely on.”