Directors

Our Board... brief details about the background, experience and skills of the voluntary members of MCF Loans Board.

Our current Chair- Alec Shelton, has been involved with the business for almost 10 years, initially before it started while working as Regeneration Manager with Derby City Council and subsequently as a Director and now Chair.  He has a background in economic development and direct experience of managing European and other regeneration programmes as well as the design, development and delivery of projects.  His knowledge has proved invaluable in identifying potential partners and he has the unique achievement of attracting both money and management resources from the aerospace industry (Rolls-Royce plc) into the community finance sector.

Our current Chief Executive - Melanie Elliot, joined MCF in 2006 and is a former senior manager in mainstream financial services with over 20 years experience at Halifax and Abbey National.   Melanie has overseen a substantial growth in MCF during her time as Chief Executive achieving the milestone of our total lending exceeding three million pounds. She is on the board of the Community Development Finance Association (CDFA - the national trade association) and is recognised as a leading social entrepreneur.

The board have a wide variety of backgrounds and regularly undertake skills audits to identify any gaps in skills or knowledge.  As well as the chair, they include:-

Nick Meakin - a voluntary sector management consultant
Rory Slater - Legacy Co-ordinator for Derbyshire 2010 and former  Director at Derbyshire Building Society
Rachel Morris -- Operations Manager at YMCA Derbyshire who has wide experience of the social housing sector
David Richards -- a Business Adviser with Business Link
Grahame Gilbert -- an accountant with Cameron Hughes in Derby
Murray Macnab -- a solicitor at Ellis-Fermor & Negus

Personal lending CDFIs have only really existed in the UK since about 2000.  Their development was driven by frustration with the inability of other business models to make a real impact on financial exclusion.  MCF is at the forefront of the sector and is seen as a successful deliverer of both social and commercial objectives.