Muse Finance appoints ex-NatWest exec Julie Ashmore COO

By Gloria Methri

Muse Finance, a working capital business finance provider has appointed Julie Ashmore as COO, to help achieve its ambition to reach 30,000 customers and provide £1.5 billion of SME financing in the next three years.

With over three decades of experience in FinTech, Ashmore was previously CEO of NatWest Rapid Cash, where she led a 50-strong team that grew the client base more than 700x in over two years.

Whilst at the helm, Ashmore developed the digital working capital product at NatWest to include digitising the end-to-end process, making working capital easy for clients to access as well as operationally efficient for the bank.

Ashmore will use this experience and pedigree to lead Muse Finance into its next phase of growth. She will spearhead the company’s sales, operations, user experience, and risk functions. The appointment comes soon after Muse Finance launched BNPL for businesses as part of its Working Capital suite of embedded finance products and services.

Julie Ashmore, COO of Muse Finance said, “I am thrilled to join the innovative team at Muse Finance at this exciting stage. I am looking forward to continuing to support small and medium-sized businesses in an industry I am so passionate about. I truly believe that Ann and the team at Muse are those people who will make a huge difference in this industry and I am proud to be joining them. ”

Ann Juliano, Founder and CEO of Muse Finance said, “Julie not only has exceptional experience along with institutional-level professionalism but she also has a passion for building and creating the best customer digital experience. As we have seen from her many successes, Julie knows how to execute and deliver a tech platform that benefits the client without jeopardising risk. It is very rare to find someone like Julie that has the combination of skill, experience, and technical know-how. Her addition comes at an exciting time for the business, and her innovative and adventurous mentality is exactly what Muse stands for – we are thrilled to have her on board.”

Prior to NatWest Rapid Cash, Ashmore was Commercial Director at GrowthStreet, a UK-based FinTech providing an overdraft alternative for working capital needs. She has also held other senior leadership roles including at HSBC as Head of SME Lending and Bibby Financial Services as Managing Director in the South West.