On the register, but not FCA authorised
This firm is registered with the FCA for anti-money-laundering checks only, which is why it appears on the register. That is not authorisation: the FCA does not oversee how it treats customers, and FSCS protection does not apply.
- Registered for 9 years
- No FCA actions
- Active company since 2016
- Accounts filed up to 31 December 2025
What does this mean?
- Some businesses are required by law to have an anti-money-laundering supervisor. For this kind of business that supervisor is the FCA, and the registration is the only reason the firm appears on the FCA register.
- What the FCA checks is narrow: that the firm identifies its customers, keeps records, and reports suspicious activity. It is the anti-crime paperwork behind a bank asking you for ID.
- It does not check anything about you as a customer. Not whether the firm treats you fairly, not whether it is financially sound, not whether what it sells is any good. The FCA describes firms registered this way as “not authorised or subject to wider FCA regulation”.
- So if the firm fails or treats you badly, there is no FSCS compensation, and the Financial Ombudsman Service usually cannot look at a complaint about unregulated business.
Website, phone number and address
Compare these against whatever you were given. Scammers clone real firm names and reference numbers but use their own phone number and website, so a detail that does not match the register is the clearest warning sign there is.
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No website on the FCA register
-
No phone number on the FCA register
-
Address
First Floor Unit 5/6, Vantage Court, Bristol, Avon, BS16 1FX, United Kingdom
In the full report: 1 background check
- Who else gives the postcode BS16 1FX
Other names (1)
If you were contacted under any of these names, it is this firm.
- Optimum SME Finance Limited Former name: A name it was registered under before.
Past FCA permissions and consumer protection
- Money-laundering registration onlyThis firm is registered for anti-money-laundering supervision only. It is not FCA-authorised. Money you hand over is not protected by the FSCS, and the Financial Ombudsman Service may not be able to consider a complaint about unregulated business.
FCA disciplinary action and complaints
No FCA disciplinary action.
The Financial Ombudsman Service only publishes complaint figures for firms with 30 or more new complaints in six months, so there are none here for this firm.
Companies House record
The company behind the firm: its status, age, registered office and directors.
- Company number
- 10508987 (opens Companies House in a new tab)
- Company status
- Active
- Company type
- Private limited company
- Incorporated
- 2 December 2016 (9 years old)
- Registered office
- Cube M4 Business Park, Old Gloucester Road, Bristol, BS16 1FX, England
- Nature of business
-
- Factoring (SIC 64992)
Directors and company secretaries
| Name | Role | Born | Appointed | Other companies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anne Katherine Taylor | Director | Mar 1976 | 28 Oct 2024 | 5 other companies |
| David James Tilling | Director | Dec 1961 | 28 Oct 2024 | None |
| Lisa Marie Cleaver | Director | Dec 1974 | 27 Jan 2026 | 6 other companies |
| Mark Lawrence Finn | Director | Feb 1968 | 14 Apr 2026 | 6 other companies |
| John Michael Stuart Nelson | Director | Jun 1968 | 28 Aug 2026 | 7 other companies |
| SPEAFI SECRETARIAL LIMITED | Corporate secretary | Not published | 28 Oct 2024 | – |
Other companies run by these 5 directors
A firm is run by people, and their other companies are their track record: what they built, what closed, and anything that failed. It is the check most people never think to make.
- other companies
- 12
- closed down
- 1
- are FCA-registered
- 5
In the full report: all 12 companies, named
- What each company does, and whether it is still trading
- Which of these 5 directors sit on each board, and since when
- Any that went into liquidation or administration
- The 5 on the FCA register
- The 4 companies these 5 directors run together
- All 15 people who have ever been directors, with their dates
Filed accounts and finances
Net assets
£4.51m
No earlier figure to compare
Cash at bank
£1.87m
No earlier figure to compare
Employees (average)
40
No earlier figure to compare
Owed within a year
£31.5m
No earlier figure to compare
About these figures
- Turnover
- Money taken from sales in the year, before any costs.
- Profit before tax
- What was left after the year’s costs, before corporation tax. A minus figure is a loss.
- Net assets, or total equity
- Everything the company owns minus everything it owes. A minus figure means it owes more than it owns.
- Total assets and total liabilities
- Everything the company owns, and everything it owes, on the last day of the year. The gap between them is its net assets.
- Cash at bank
- Money in the company’s accounts on the last day of the year.
- Owed within a year, owed after a year
- Debts and bills due in the next twelve months, and those due later.
There is no turnover or profit: small companies do not have to publish them.
Accounts filed at Companies House for company 10508987. Every figure is as filed, apart from total assets and total liabilities, which are added up from filed figures. Nothing is estimated.
Key dates in its history
Ecapital Commercial Finance (South West)’s history from the FCA register and Companies House, newest first.
2026
13 March 2026
- Changed its registered name from "Optimum SME Finance Limited"
FCA register
2024
28 October 2024
- Ecapital Commercial Finance Limited took control (75–100% of shares)
Companies House
2019
25 January 2019
- Elljay Limited stopped being a part-owner
- Roger Benjamin Nagioff stopped being a part-owner
Companies House
2018
16 October 2018
- Rn Hatfield Limited stopped being a part-owner
- Roger Benjamin Nagioff became a part-owner (25–50% of shares)
Companies House
2017
4 April 2017
- Registered with the FCA
FCA register
23 February 2017
- Elljay Limited became a part-owner (25–50% of shares)
- Richard Pepler gave up control
- Rn Hatfield Limited became a part-owner (25–50% of shares)
Companies House
2016
2 December 2016
- Incorporated at Companies House
- Richard Pepler took control (75–100% of shares)
Companies House
In the full report: all 37 events
- All 37 events in its history (12 shown here)
- Every director appointment and resignation: 25
Firms connected to Ecapital Commercial Finance (South West)
Other FCA-listed firms that share a director, phone number or address with Ecapital Commercial Finance (South West). A link shows who the firm is tied to, not whether either can be trusted.
- connected firms
- 2
- share a director
- 2
- past links
- 3
In the full report: all 2 connected firms, named
- How each is linked: shared directors (2)
- Who links each one: the named directors, with dates
- 3 past links through former directors
Get the full report on Ecapital Commercial Finance (South West)
Everything on this page, plus everything locked above, in one dated PDF you can keep, file or send on.
- 12 other companies its directors have run, named
- 1 background check on its contact details
- All 37 events in its history
- 2 connected firms, named, and who links them
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Frequently asked questions about this firm
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What do Ecapital Commercial Finance (South West)’s latest accounts show?
Does Ecapital Commercial Finance (South West) use any other names?
Sources and links
- Its entry on the FCA register register.fca.org.uk
- Its Companies House record gov.uk
- Report a scam to the FCA fca.org.uk