Meet me – Director of Debt Finance, Katherine Woodfine

Travel enthusiast and full time supporter of growing businesses, Katherine shares her bucket list dreams and passion for helping companies reach their potential 

What do you do at Growth Lending? 

I’m a Director of Debt Finance in the London team. This involves working closely with businesses to provide a range of different funding to support their growth ambitions. I am responsible for originating, structuring and transacting on investment opportunities.

What attracted you to working at Growth Lending? 

The opportunity to work with an extremely talented group of people in an entrepreneurial, dynamic and culture driven environment, alongside being able to support a broad range of incredible businesses. 

Being an alternative lender, Growth Lending is positioned to support businesses where traditional finance is typically unavailable. I love being able to help founders and business leaders achieve their ambitions. 

How did you get into this field? 

I have been working in financial services for more than 15 years, after graduating with a degree in finance, accounting and management. 

Having started my career in the listed equities market, I wanted to get closer to the actual businesses behind the numbers. From there I made the move into private equity, providing investment to and working closely with entrepreneurs and SMEs, before joining Growth Lending. 

I love working with earlier stage businesses, understanding the challenges that they face and helping them to navigate these.

What was your first job? 

My first job was on the deli counter at my local Waitrose supermarket when I was 16. I remember being just tall enough to legally be allowed to work behind the counter, which unfortunately also meant I was small enough to fit inside the ovens for cleaning!  

If you could have any job in the world, what would you choose and why? 

I would be an astronomer – everything about space and the universe fascinates me and there is still so much we don’t understand. Plus, I love the idea of going on stargazing expeditions to a desert island. I am not sure that’s the reality of the job, but given the limited stars visible from my London home, I like the idea of it.

What’s on your bucket list? 

I have been lucky enough to travel to many fabulous countries around the world. However, the more I travel the longer my list seems to get. One destination that is top of my bucket list is Uganda. It is a dream of mine to go trekking to see the mountain gorillas, hopefully one day soon I will make it there! 

Given £100m to spend or invest, what’s the first thing you would do? 

The first thing I would do is go on an around-the-world trip, exploring as many new countries as possible, but also stopping along the way to get involved in initiatives to support local communities and individuals who are in less fortunate positions.