Pictured above: Mary Ravenscroft

Trade credit insurance firm Atradius has appointed Mary Ravenscroft as regional manager of its Midlands office. Based in Birmingham, her role will be to head up Atradius' operations in the region, service customers and to lead a new business drive.

Atradius already covers more than £2bn of trade in the Midlands region and has committed to opening up new cover across a range of sectors. As a global trade credit insurer with a local presence and expertise in the Midlands, Atradius holds business intelligence on 52 million organisations, insuring trade between the region's businesses both in the UK and overseas from its Birmingham base. As well as paying claims to businesses when their suppliers are unable to pay for their goods or services - for example when there is a payment default- it also manages business risks and analyses trading conditions and insolvency trends.

Mary Ravenscroft has 34 years' experience in the credit insurance market and rejoins Atradius after a 10 year stint at HSBC as divisional director. Prior to working at HSBC, she  spent 24 years with Atradius - which was then known as NCM - latterly as senior account manager for the global automotive and engineering sectors.

She said: "It is an exciting time to be joining Atradius in the Midlands as we are opening up more exposure to enable more trade between businesses. The role of trade credit insurance for businesses in the Midlands has never been more important. Businesses have fought their way through a difficult economy and it is our role to facilitate trade between firms so they can supply their customers with confidence."

Mary has a postgraduate qualification in credit insurance, surety and investment insurance and is a member of The British Exporters Association (BExA) as well as being a regular speaker at industry events including with the Chamber of Commerce and key trade forums.

Pete Davies, country manager of Atradius UK, commented: "Mary's knowledge of the local business economy and of credit insurance is second to none thanks to her extensive industry experience. It is fantastic that we can welcome her back to the firm as we continue to grow our presence in the region."