Jon Leslie
Managing Director
Jon established Reality Finance in 2000 with co-founder James Cashmore and has been a tour-de-force for the business ever since. With over 30 years’ banking and asset finance experience after careers at Barclays, Bank of Scotland and in independent IT broking, he brings telling focus and unrivalled expertise to our offering.
Responsible for steering our relationships with our panel of funders, Jon also manages our sales support teams and is pivotal in implementing our strategic policy. He also works closely with James and middle management to ensure the wellbeing of the business from a financial and operational perspective, helping to strengthen our position as a best-of-breed asset finance specialist.
James Cashmore
Commercial Director
As a co-founder of Reality Finance, James is the creative visionary behind our operation, with the energy and people skills that have helped define our raison d’être and fuel our mission. After starting out in banking, when he was fast-tracked onto Lloyds TSB’s management training programme, James moved into finance sales before working in IT finance, partnering with vendors to supply end-users with software funding.
Obsessive about customer service and with an unquenchable team ethic, James is responsible for steering our key vendor relationships, as well as sales in our direct business. He also works to develop our topline business strategy, bringing it to realisation alongside our other directors.
Ed Barnes
Head of Direct Sales
With over 15 years’ experience as an asset finance relationship manager for Lloyds Banking Group, Barclays and HBOS, Ed joined us in 2011, bringing tried-and-tested management, sales and account handling skills to our direct sales business. Resourceful and quick thinking, Ed works hand-in-hand with new clients to develop enduring strategic partnerships, while also providing solutions to our existing clients.
Neil Whitear
Business Development Manager
Neil has spent his working life in finance, having started out with the Dutch Bank ING before joining Reality Finance in 2005.
During his time with Reality, Neil has developed strong vendor relationships in the hospitality sector, being a firm believer in the personal approach to listen and understand the needs of both hospitality vendors and hotel owners in arranging finance for all their asset finance needs.
Whether it be a large international brand or a small independent hotel, Neil has the wealth of experience and knowledge to support the hospitality industry.
Jason Turner
Business Development Manager
With over 30 years of experience in Finance and leasing, Jason has also run a successful IT business where over 90% of sales were Lease driven. Before starting at Reality Finance in 2016, Jason was Partner Sales Manager at Syscap.
Now at Reality, Jason specialises in helping on-premise and SaaS technology vendors win more sales, develop client retention, and reduce time to profit through tailored funding programmes.
Annie Plaskett
Marketing Manager
Annie started working at Reality Finance in July 2017 and works alongside Ed Barnes and the rest of the team, focusing on customer service and communications.
Richard Williamson
Business Development Manager
Richard joined Reality Finance in 2023 with over 30 years of experience in financial services including regulated lending, Asset Finance, Marine, Aviation & Commercial Funding. Richard possesses a wide range of business experience and a relentless drive to deliver consistently for our stakeholders.
