Portillion secures new funding

20 April 2011 | By Natalie Thomas

The would-be lender revealed in January that Q1 2011 would be a make or break time as it looked to secure £110m of funding before it could apply for its FSA authorisation.

Portillion currently has funding from RIT Capital Partners, Lord Rothschild’s family interests and former chief executive officer Stephen Knight.

Helen Gee, marketing manager at Portillion, could not confirm who the investor was or how much capital it has provided.

But she says: “We’ve found a new partner to work alongside our existing one who has committed to providing working capital through our FSA application process.”

She was unable to confirm whether it has already started the application process.

In February, Knight stepped down as chief executive officer of Portillion after being diagnosed with a brain tumour.

David Hill, who is Portillion’s former chief financial officer, replaced Knight as CEO.

Knight revealed his plans to launch a lender called Checkmate Mortgages in 2007 which he later rebranded to Portillion in February 2010.

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