About Catalyst
We treat your finance as our own
With more than three decades of experience and a compact, hands-on team, we’re not your average business finance broker. We’re known for securing funding that genuinely supports how our clients operate, underpinned by long-standing lender relationships across various industries built on trust rather than transactions.
Our story
While Catalyst may look young on paper – founded in 2022 – the experience behind our team is anything but.
After 28+ years in creative asset finance, including building a brokerage that was later acquired, our Managing Director, Gavin, found himself spending more time in corporate boardrooms than with the clients he’d supported for decades.
At the same time, he saw a pattern of ambitious businesses slowed down by risk-averse banks that didn’t understand their assets and by brokers with little experience.
He co-founded Catalyst with Ramona Culea to offer a better alternative: a fast, relationship-first team that does (a lot) more than submit paperwork.
Today, our Berkshire-based team works with businesses across various sectors, from SMEs to PLCs. Clients choose us because we give them the confidence to commit to future projects – we open doors to better terms, work fast and pick up the phone when others don’t, whether that’s a Tuesday morning or Friday evening.
Meet the team
Gavin Scott
Managing Director
Gavin founded Catalyst in 2022 after more than two decades in specialist asset finance. He leads the company’s growth and lending strategy, working closely with clients across creative and corporate sectors.
With expertise in creative asset finance, he co-founded Azule, growing it into one of the UK’s leading specialist lenders before its sale to PCF Bank in 2018. He then became responsible for all sales operations within the bank.
Gavin’s weekends belong to his son’s under-18s football team, with golf or cycling negotiated in between his duties as the kids’ unpaid Uber driver.
gavin@catalyst-finance.co.uk
Ramona Culea
Sales Director
Ramona has worked alongside Gavin in asset finance since 2014 and now leads Catalyst’s sales function, ensuring clients receive the right funding with as little friction as possible.
Before joining Catalyst, Ramona spent almost nine years at Azule, where she focused on customer experience, relationship management and maximising renewal and income. Earlier in her career, she spent seven years in the HR team at a TV station.
Outside of work, you’ll find Ramona with her son Lucas, either plotting their next overseas adventure or in search of excellent coffee – a necessity she relies on.
ramona@catalyst-finance.co.uk
Jacqui Sanguinetti
Relationship Manager
Jacqui joined Catalyst in 2025, bringing more than five years of specialist asset finance experience. She manages client relationships and provides a consistent point of contact from start to finish.
Highly proficient in Spanish, Jacqui leads the coordination of Catalyst’s cross-border transactions in Spain, working closely with European customers, suppliers and manufacturers. Earlier in her career, she spent a number of years with British Airways in a range of operational and performance roles.
You could describe Jacqui as the kind of person who says ‘yes’ to everything, whether it’s running across suspension bridges in Lisbon or meeting the Pope.
jacqui@catalyst-finance.co.uk
Holley Eastell
Sales Support
Holley has worked in asset finance for nine years and is a knowledgeable point of contact for clients as they move through the documentation stage. She’s an expert in lender requirement guidance, resolving issues quickly and ensuring agreements are completed cleanly and on time.
Before joining Catalyst, Holley was a core member of the sales support team at Azule, where she developed her deep understanding of asset finance processes and end-of-agreement options.
Outside of the office, Holley swaps spreadsheets for squats, running a personal training business.
holley@catalyst-finance.co.uk
Miranda Scott
Finance & Admin Manager
Miranda is responsible for all things finance, HR and administration at Catalyst, overseeing the systems and processes that support the business day to day.
Before joining the team, she built hands-on experience in governance and people management as a teaching assistant and treasurer for a local charity.
As a mum of three with a five-day-a-week gym habit, Miranda is well-practised in keeping multiple plates spinning.
miranda@catalyst-finance.co.uk
Whether you’re fitting out a new warehouse, expanding your vehicle fleet, purchasing new machinery or investing in specialist broadcast/AV/live entertainment equipment, we work with you and our extensive panel of lenders to secure the kind of finance that drives business growth.
42%
deals approved after bank declines
25+
trade shows attended in the past three years
5
countries where we transact asset finance
Our flexible finance solutions
Asset Finance
Get the equipment you need without draining cash reserves
Business Loans
The cash boost you need to fund your next big idea
Broadcast & Live Entertainment Finance
Flexible finance for equipment most lenders don’t understand
Vehicle Finance
Competitive funding solutions that keep you on the road
Commercial Finance
Bespoke funding solutions for business success
You’re in safe hands
Gavin Scott is a member of the Guild of Business Finance Professionals. The Guild is an association of independent finance brokers and intermediaries whose purpose is to enhance standards across the UK’s business finance industry. Members of the guild seek to promote ethical and transparent practices and protect SME interests.
Catalyst Finance is Cyber Essentials Certified meaning that we have the right levels of technical controls and a secured IT infrastructure to protect us against common cyber threats.
Catalyst Finance Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Our Firm Reference Number is 1004264. We are permitted to act as a Credit Broker and not a Lender. We work with a panel of Lenders. We receive commission from the lender.
Registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) under the Data Protection Act 2018. Registration number: ZB422756
