Clapper’s return to the market is significant and sure to shake up the specialist distribution sector.
Rumours are rife that Michael Clapper is poised to make a dramatic return to front line financial services with the launch of master broker Black Book Finance.
A company Twitter account - @BlackBookFin – sheds some detail on the proposition, stating Black Book will be a concierge-style outfit offering financial solutions for intermediaries across a wide range of client requirements, on an advised or non-advised basis.
The website– www.blackbookfinance.co.uk – states: “We are working on something amazing. Please check back soon!”. From today the countdown clock on the website says that that will be in just 20 days.
Michael Clapper (pictured) was unavailable to comment.
Clapper’s own Twitter account – @MichaelClapper – does not reveal much, but a search at Companies House shows that Michael Antony Clapper, along with his other 43 director appointments, is a director of Black Book Finance – registered at 73 Cornhill in the City of London.
Joining Clapper on the board are long-time pals Adam Brand [formerly GE and First Union] who was appointed in July this year and Joanne Dempsey [formerly Enterprise Group COO] who joined in April. Mortgage broker Yisroel Meir is another director appointed in July.
Clapper’s return to the market is significant and sure to shake up the specialist distribution sector.
He formed Enterprise Group in 1991 – a company now fronted by one-time protégés Danny Waters and Harry Landy – which made leaps and bounds in the specialist finance sector.
Enterprise was the UK’s 31st fastest growing private company in 2007 and London’s 9th fastest growing company in the same year, according to The Sunday Times Fast Track.
Clapper was also behind the ‘Edge’ system – at the time considered to be a ground-breaking sourcing technology and used by some 12,000 brokers and 200,000 consumers every month.
Soon after he partially sold Enterprise Group to private equity firm Promethean in 2007, the Global Financial Crisis created a swathe of problems.
Two years later Clapper was manoeuvred out and went on to co-found Vapestick – that became one of Europe’s leading brands of e-cigarettes. In 2014 that company was acquired by Victory Electronic Cigarettes Corporation.
More to follow…
