Business Link Tees Valley has appointed RICHARD WATTS as an access to finance advisor, joining a team of six to help small and medium-sized businesses find financial support.

Before joining Business Link, Mr Watts worked in Chartered Accountancy for more than 20 years, dealing with businesses ranging from those with turnovers of £10,000 to £3m and across a wide range of sectors.

He said: "The part of my work that has always given me the most satisfaction was helping businesses to become more profitable, so joining Business Link in a role that involves working with a diverse range of companies to help them to finance their growth was a natural career progression for me."

"If a business is looking for help with an expansion project, or looking to structure its finances to work through cash flow problems, we can help. I see my role as helping businesses to increase their values through helping them to manage their finances better."

In his spare time, Mr Watts is a football coach with Northallerton Junior's FC and he also has a keen interest in point-to-point horse racing.

As well as owning a point-to-pointer, he writes on the sport for The Northern Echo's sister paper, the Darlington and Stockton Times.