Bridging & Commercial Magazine — The Wisdom Issue

ISSUE 30 NOV/DEC 2023

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Spring Finance, the personal approach to specialist lending Regulated and unregulated options, for all products Loans from £50,000 to £2m Complex loans, made easy Renovation and development projects with stage drawdowns Debt consolidation All types of credit history considered

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ISSUE 30 NOV/DEC 2023

“I STRONGLY BELIEVE IN THE IMPORTANCE OF EXPANDING MY KNOWLEDGE INTO BROADER AREAS OF PROPERTY FINANCE” “I THINK IT’S TIME THE INDUSTRY SET A MINIMUM STANDARD OF QUALIFICATION” “IN TIMES OF ECONOMIC UNCERTAINTY, BROADENING YOUR HORIZONS IS NEVER A BAD THING” “LONGEVITY IN BUSINESS COMES FROM TREATING PEOPLE FAIRLY AND BEING GOOD PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY IN A MARKET THAT’S LARGELY UNREGULATED” “YOU HAVE TO ADAPT TO CERTAIN SITUATIONS WHEN THERE ARE ISSUES WITHIN THE SECTOR” “I’M TRYING TO SHOW THAT WE ARE ALL WORKER BEES WORKING TOGETHER ON SOMETHING AND WHEN ONE OF US WINS, WE ALL WIN” “I AM NOT AFRAID OF MAKING DECISIONS WHETHER THEY’RE EASY OR TOUGH” “I THINK LENDERS HAVE A DUTY OF CARE TO BROKERS OR PACKAGERS, WHO SHOULD ALSO APPLY THIS TO THEIR CLIENTS ACCORDINGLY” “NEVER BE AFRAID TO ASK QUESTIONS. NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE, IF YOU’VE GOT SOMETHING YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND, PICK UP THE PHONE AND TALK TO SOMEBODY” “TIME IS EVERYTHING, SO UTILISE IT TO THE BEST OF YOUR ABILITY” “AS A MANAGER, YOU HAVE TO BE QUITE ADAPTABLE AND WILLING TO REFLECT ON YOURSELF AS WELL” “IF YOU’VE GOT THE RIGHT PEOPLE, YOU CAN MEET THOSE CHALLENGES AND WORK YOUR WAY THROUGH THEM” “CLEAR COMMUNICATION BETWEEN YOURSELF AND YOUR TEAM IS ESSENTIAL” “WE WANT TO CREATE OUTSTANDING OUTCOMES FOR CLIENTS ALL THE WAY THROUGH, AND THAT HAPPENS WHEN EVERYBODY IS WORKING TOGETHER CLOSELY TO REACH THE END GOAL”

THE WISDOM ISSUE THE INDUSTRY SHARES ITS PEARLS OF WISDOM

BRIDGING FINANCE

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Acknowledgments Editor-in-chief Beth Fisher Deputy editor Andreea Dulgheru Creative direction Beth Fisher Andreea Dulgheru Reporters Elliot Topham Jodie Bradley Sub editor Christy Lawrance Photography Alexander Chai Adrian Pope Contributors Beth Ure Sales and marketing Beth Fisher beth@medianett.co.uk Special thanks Carcie Rogers, Zenzic Capital Jason Wyer-Smith, 42 PR Isabella White, Rostrum Printing The Magazine Printing Company Design and image editing Jana Rade, impact studios Bridging & Commercial Magazine is published by Medianett Publishing Ltd Managing director Beth Fisher beth@medianett.co.uk 0203 818 0160 Follow us: Twitter @BandCNews | Instagram @BridgingCommercialMagazine To read about our commitment to the environment and sustainable print publishing, please visit https://bridgingandcommercial.co.uk/page_magazine

To read about our commitment to the environment and sustainable print publishing, please visit https://bridgingandcommercial.co.uk/page_magazine.

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t’s safe to say that 2023 has been a whirlwind year. The property finance market has been on a wild rollercoaster of base rate and inflation changes, saw the housing minister being replaced twice, and witnessed half of the plans for the long-awaited HS2 project being scrapped, among many other market developments. In the specialist finance sector, the ever-changing BTL rules have made landlords’ heads spin, bridging loan books hit a record high of £7.3bn in Q3 2023 according to the ASTL, and the chancellor Jeremy Hunt has pledged £32m to clear the planning backlog to boost housebuilding—and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Having all been through a lot this year, we figured the best way to end 2023 was to look back at all the lessons learnt these past 12 months, and highlight the pearls of wisdom gained in order to prepare us for the year ahead. First off, some of the graduates of the new specialist finance qualification share their experience of taking the course, in the hopes it will encourage others to do the same [p8]. Meanwhile, Manuka Media’s founder Rosalia Lazzara-Tilley [p17], Zenzic Capital’s CEO Nadine Buckland [p24], and West One Loans’ head of bridging Tom Cantor [p33] reminisce about how their careers have evolved over the years up to this point, and what brought on their success. We also highlight the top lessons learnt during this year’s FP Show’s Live Criteria Clinics, held in partnership with Knowledge Bank [p82].

To celebrate the 30th issue of the Bridging & Commercial Magazine, we wanted to prepare something truly special for The Wisdom Issue’s cover story, that embodies the theme and teaches everyone at least a little something—after all, learning never stops. This is why we brought three experts with over 20 years of experience in the sector face to face with industry newcomers, to gain knowledge from each other to ultimately further improve our sector [p48].

As somebody who has been working in the specialist finance market for four years, it was enlightening to see its evolution through different perspectives and to see people so eager to learn from each other, regardless of how many years one’s got under their belt—and I hope this is indeed a valuable gift to you as well.

Andreea Dulgheru Deputy editor

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8 14 17 33 48 70 “Time is everything, so utilise it to the best of your ability, keep an open mind and speak to the right people” p48

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The Cut News

Let’s take note(s)

The new face of Albatross

Feature

The woman driving the industry’s social media buzz / Zenzic Capital’s road to success

Interview

Tom Cantor / Louise Chapman

Cover Story One Day

Swapping stories and lessons

The experts leading UTB’s bridging division / An anniversary to remember

Limelight

FP Show 2023

Backstory

Lee Francis

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The Cut

The industry goes back to school Despite the Certified Practitioner in Specialist Property Finance (CPSP) qualification having officially launched recently this year, it is already making big waves, with over 300 people registered in merely three months. We speak to a handful of people who have already taken the course to find out what they learnt

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Nov/Dec 2023

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Craig Addy Operations manager at FIBA

Camilla Brewis Director at Beewise FS

Having worked in the financial industry for over 20 years, taking the course was a smooth process in comparison to other qualifications, as everything was available online, and was quick and easy. Branching out into the commercial area was something I’d been considering for a while—particularly as my company often gets queries around commercial mortgages—so it was good to upgrade my skill set. The only negative point is the lack of textbooks to study from— this could make learning the content easier than reading it across several PDFs. Overall, I really enjoyed discovering more about the industry, and I’d always recommend diversifying your product knowledge to other brokers.

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If, like me, you are relatively new to this sector, then the CPSP is a fantastic introduction that will provide a solid grounding in specialist finance. I particularly enjoyed the online element, which allowed me to pick up where I’d left off reading on different devices in different places with ease. Furthermore, the availability to sit the exam remotely was so vast that I could take the test at a time completely of my choosing. I also found the online forum set up for the course useful—as I could share experiences with other learners—and was a fan of the interactive nature of the text. Of all the topics covered in the programme, development finance was the one I had the least amount of existing knowledge of, so this represented the biggest challenge. As for the most enjoyable part, this was, of course, passing the exam and the sense of accomplishment that this brought along!

Alex Witham Regional account manager at Landbay

I st rongly bel ieve i n t he importance of expanding my knowledge into broader areas of property finance. When I came across this new qualification and observed the subjects, I recognized that it would significantly enhance my expertise, which in turn would help my customers.

For me, the qualification was a blend of intriguing content, mixed with the occasional challenge of maintaining a consistent revision routine—the efforts of balancing regular revision with a full-time job and the responsibilities of parenthood presented its own set of 10

difficulties. I found the course material to be captivating, and the e-learning platform was user-friendly, which encouraged me to stay engaged and make steady progress. If your goal is to elevate your expertise and provide top-tier guidance to your clients, taking this exam is essential. It will teach you more about the complex areas of property finance—including development, bridging, second charges and complex BTL. It will place you ahead of your competitors, and will inspire more confidence in your clients.

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Andrew Westerdale

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Natalie Glover

David Kingham

Associate for short-term finance at SPF Private Clients

Senior underwriter for regulated bridging at MT Finance

I decided to do the qualification because I think it’s always good to aim higher and to outwardly show clients and colleagues what you can achieve and what you are good at. In my opinion, the qualification was well thought out, but does require refining. Having been in the specialist finance sector for well over a decade, I have come across most of the syllabus—nevertheless, I found it good to refine parts of my knowledge, such as HMO criteria. However, the exam was long, particularly for someone with three kids to take care of—hoping they stayed asleep was probably the most stressful aspect of it! The most rewarding part was finishing and having the qualification on LinkedIn; this is also good to have on your CV, as it shows clients that you know what you are talking about.

I’d already heard about the CPSP qualification, as MT Finance supported the creation of it, so when I was asked if I wanted to complete the training, I instantly said yes—as I’m always looking for ways to increase my knowledge. Overall, it was a very good experience. The course took a holistic approach to specialist property finance, it provided a thorough overview of everything the industry offers, and the syllabus was engaging and informative.

The most enjoyable part was learning new things and getting a better understanding of other people’s perspectives—namely brokers, solicitors and borrowers.

While it was a bit of a challenge to study areas that I hadn’t had much exposure to before, I enjoyed being pushed out of my comfort zone.

I think this qualification has the potential to really smooth out the application process as a whole and it certainly taught me things I can apply day-to-day.

Director at Peritus Financial Services

I decided to do the CPSP to bolster my knowledge of specialist property finance and to give me more credibility when speaking to potential clients. Recognizing the growing importance of financial expertise in property transactions, my aim was to gain comprehensive knowledge and skills to excel in this field. My overall experience completing the CPSP was great.

The qualification provides an in-depth understanding of what can sometimes be complex cases in the specialist finance world. It also offers valuable insights into property investment, financing strategies, and risk management, thus equipping me with a solid foundation for effectively navigating this dynamic industry.

The most enjoyable aspect of pursuing the CPSP qualification was the practical application of knowledge—analysing property finance scenarios gave me so much more confidence when speaking to potential clients.

As for the most challenging aspect of doing the course, it was getting a firm understanding of the various situations that may arise when dealing with different clients and the many challenging situations they may face. Overall, I would wholeheartedly recommend other brokers to pursue the course due to its transformative impact it will have.

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Krissy Salmon

Senior HNW account manager at OSB Group

My overall experience taking the CPSP qualification was positive, and being one of the first 50 to be certified is a great achievement. The course gives a good grounding in all aspects of specialist lending for newer people to the arena, and some solid reference material to broaden knowledge and understanding for those who have been in the sector for longer. I found the content of the course interesting and the format user-friendly, so it was easy to break the learning down into manageable sections to fit in around work and home.

However, I did find it challenging to get back into the mindset of studying. It’s been a while since I’ve undertaken any structured learning for a qualification, so it took a bit of getting used to at the start to dedicate my time appropriately and get the most out of the course.

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Tim Sorrell National account manager at Perenna

In times of economic uncertainty, broadening your horizons is never a bad thing. Having worked in mainstream mortgages and second charges, I wanted to expand my knowledge and really get under the skin of the different types of commercial, bridging and development finance and become a lot more familiar with them. The overall experience taking the CPSP was broadly in line with what I had anticipated. Taking the tests at the end of each section was a good way to see how I was performing and provided instant feedback on areas I needed to brush up on. However, I did find some parts a little repetitive in the learning materials—nevertheless, this helped reaffirm

Chris Adlam

Finance broker at Advanced Funding Solutions

I chose to do the CPSP qualification as, with the new consumer duty rules, I felt it was my responsibility to show the FCA and my peers what I am doing and what I have done to raise the bar and standards in my own business. The qualification was a great experience, as it cemented the information I already knew and gave me a sense that the training I have been doing over the years was well spent. The fact that this exam was constructed by industry leaders and people I

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hold in high esteem was a particular area of satisfaction. I would recommend for others to do the qualification as it is our duty to raise the bar and ensure we are skilled in the relevant areas we are advising on, and that our clients have adequate protection.

We have seen in recent years that certain lenders will only take on NACFB-registered brokers, and I think it’s time the industry set a minimum standard of qualification in the form of the CPSP exam.

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my understanding and drill the information home. Setting aside the time to study was difficult, particularly as I set myself the challenge to complete the course in one month. Of course, being told straight away at the end of the exam that you have passed was brilliant news and cause for a celebration! I would recommend taking the CPSP as it does provide a good base of understanding in other areas that are maybe on the fringe of what you do day-to-day. Having that knowledge will help you talk more with clients, understand their needs better and give you a more holistic approach.

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Loan partner at Specialist Hub

Nicola Hardy Head of networks and mortgage clubs at Somo

I did the qualification as I feel it’s important to keep up to date with knowledge in various areas of the industry you are working in, such as products, processes, and regulations change. Having insight into what options are out there gives you more flexibility to assist customers with more complex situations, especially within the current climate.

It is beneficial for brokers to be aware of exactly what the full application process looks like, including the legal and underwriting processes, which the CPSP covers, along with detailed information on various specialist finance products. I found the course easy to follow and the end-of-topic tests were handy for reviewing the learning from each section. The most enjoyable part of doing the qualification and taking the exam was realising I knew more than I gave myself credit for within areas of specialist finance that I don’t necessarily deal with daily. In contrast, the most challenging aspect was not being able to print off the specimen paper to be able to complete it in my own time.

It was good to have a qualification that is aligned with my day-to-day role. The CPSP course is well written and contains a lot of information that is beneficial for people new to the role. The sections are all well laid out, which meant I was able to complete the qualification without being overawed. By taking this course, I obtained clarification on matters I was not 100% sure about, which will give me more comfort in that part of my role. However, it was difficult doing the exam remotely as a local examination centre was not an option. Furthermore, some parts of the course felt a little confusing in relation to definitions for types of business.

Overall, I would recommend the CPSP qualification to other brokers, as it is good for both new starters and for experienced intermediaries.

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Director at Exel Finance

Although I would often educate myself by talking to lenders and my BDMs, I really felt the need to study professionally prepared course material. I also wanted to obtain a recognised qualification to enhance my professionalism and hopefully set myself apart from other brokers. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my experience completing the CPSP qualification! I used to look forward to that daily hour of study—which was between 7am and 8am, as that is my most alert time of day for studying—as I realised that there were some serious gaps in my knowledge of specialist finance. I felt that this was vital to increase my confidence in dealing with 13

enquiries from clients and new prospects. The course was set out so well, with regular tests to consolidate learning, that there weren’t any areas I found challenging. Having said that, the course wasn’t easy, as it required discipline and dedication. The one area of greatest difficulty for me personally was remembering everything I had previously studied and learned, which required me to go over the material frequently. All in all, I would strongly recommend the course and qualification to other brokers.

Nov/Dec 2023

Flying higher Making deals happen and being fair are the basis of Albatross Lending Group’s longevity plans, with a dynamic rebrand showing the company’s youth and agility.

It’s been an intense, fast-moving journey that has seen two former stockbrokers working from a garage to surpassing several targets each year WORDS BY ANDREEA DULGHERU

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ears ago, you could find Lewis Casserley and Jordan Fearnley Brown completing a ha nd f u l of spec ia l ist finance loans each week in a garage in Surrey. Their desire to take things to the next level saw them take the bull by its horns and launch Albatross Capital in April 2020, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. The two young businessmen, supported by the former CEO of bedroom furniture company Dreams, Mike Clare, began providing short-term finance solutions, including bridging loans of up to £1m.

“Jordan and I came into the bridging industry blind. We were stockbrokers, coming from an FCA-regulated background, and we entered this industry largely because we got to a point where we were matching up deals for investors, so it was a natural evolution for us to get into lending,” recalls Lewis.

Determined to make it in this sector but conscious of their lack of knowledge of the bridging market at the time, the two businessmen spent almost a year meeting lending peers left and right to learn more about specialist finance, identify the gaps in the market and tailor their proposition to meet these needs. “The fact that we’re young and still need to learn is something that Lewis and I have always been aware of, so having that mentality of soaking up as much information as you can and being fearless is important,” says Jordan.

All this work paid off in the end, as Albatross surpassed its initial target for year one, lending £16m in its first 12 months. The business has continued to grow over the years, securing several funding lines from multiple investors—including Shawbrook Bank—bringing multiple shortterm finance products into the market, and adding new members to its team.

Lending-wise, Jordan tells me the firm’s loan book had surpassed the targets they set out each year by up to 40%. It currently is just shy of £50m, with average loans ranging between £470,000 and £520,00, and an average LTV of 57%.

A c c o r d i n g t o t h e t wo b u s i n e s s partners, this success is partly thanks to its valuable partnerships, both internally with Albatross’ staff as well as with third parties. “A large part of what we've done from the firm’s inception is focus on the quality of the professionals that we surround ourselves with. We work with some of the best solicitors in the market,

and we’ve spent a lot of time perfecting our valuer panel to make sure we have someone we can call up and provide a valuation for us the next day for any deal,” Lewis states.

Longevity in business comes from treating clients fairly and being good people, especially in a market that’s largely unregulated” Fairness in an unregulated world

The value the two place on relationship extends all the way to its customers, as they emphasise the importance of honesty and trust when transacting in the bridging market. “You can go an awfully long way with being honest, transparent and fair, and being able to judge a transaction on its own merits. Longevity in business comes from treating clients fairly and being good people, especially in a market that’s largely unregulated,” says Lewis.

During its first three years of operation, Lewis and Jordan discovered a lot about the specialist finance industry—the biggest one being the importance of flexibility in a competitive and volatile market. “You have to adapt to certain situations when there are issues within the sector, whether it’s from rate pressures or property prices coming down.

You have to be able to look at the situation from outside and see how you can improve the market,” says Jordan.

Bold new branding

With Albatross being successful for more than three years, Jordan and Lewis decided now was the right time for a rebrand to prepare the business for its next growth phase. According to the two, the rebrand aims to remove its original old-school look—a conscious decision made by Jordan and Lewis to fit into the specialist finance market—and highlight the company’s values and USPs. “A big part of what we've

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always done is just dare to be different and be bold in our statements to the secgtor, our product innovation and our service levels; we try to put our money where our mouths are. While we haven't been around that long, we've come an awfully long way, so our new branding is about promoting the fact that we're bold, young, dynamic, agile,” explains Lewis.

Aside from a new colour scheme and logo, the rebrand brings with it a new chairman for the business: Martin Gilbert, co-founder of Aberdeen Asset Management and chairman of Revolut. Martin will take over from Kevin Cook, who has been Albatross’ chairman since 2021. “Kevin was invaluable to us as youngsters to help with systems, controls and funding—he’s been hugely helpful to us,” recalls Lewis.

In his capacity as chairman, Martin is set to take things to the next level from a funding point of view to enable Albatross to scale up even further. “Martin’s experience will be invaluable, as will his contacts, his understanding of capital raising, his natural prowess and his reputation within the funding world. He will be a big driving factor for us now as we enter the new stage,” adds Lewis.

Building business, not feathering nests

All of this is in preparation for the next stage of the business evolution, which will be marked by Albatross’ unveiling of its new funding structure next year to match its new slogan: Funded differently, funding differently. “Everything that we do now isn't to line our own back pockets. It's to create longevity, and build a business that ultimately runs like clockwork and doesn't need Lewis and I to be there seven days a week to run it. To do that, we need funding that's going to enable us to do things that are different from short-term lending,” says Jordan.

While many changes are on the horizon for the lender, both Jordan and Lewis confirm Albatross’ core values will remain the same: providing a high-quality service and helping investors with their short-term finance needs quickly. “I think the biggest achievement for us is that the success we’ve seen in three years hasn’t changed who we are or how we operate,” Lewis reflects.

“Staying grounded, looking after our team, our brokers and our borrowers, and making deals happen is [and will be] always at the forefront—without any of that, Albatross isn’t anything at all.”

Nov/Dec 2023

Feature

Creating a

in financial services From losing her job due to redundancy in 2020 to publishing a number one bestselling book in 2023, Manuka Media founder Rosalia Lazzara-Tilley has been busy as a bee, teaching the specialist finance industry how to utilise social media to reap many rewards Words by

BETH URE

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inance companies are often surprised by how social media can boost business by attracting specific types of customers.

Luckily for them, there is one woman ready to teach experts everything they need to know about the value of social media: Rosalia Lazzara-Tilley. Rosalia is the founder of Manuka Media, where she works with mortgage brokers and IFA brands on their digital marketing strategies, personal branding and social media management.

She began her financial services career in 2015 as a BDM for the packager Omega Commercial Solutions, after which she joined the lender Together in 2018 in the same role.

“I had no idea about the financial services industry, I didn’t even have my own mortgage and I didn’t know what a bridging loan was,” she says. “But I understood people and business, so I was able to learn the products quite quickly.”

During her time with the specialist lender, Rosalia was a finalist for the Rising Star award at Financial Reporter’s Women’s Recognition Awards in 2019. However, just a few months later, she was furloughed and then made redundant in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Feature

“I thought I was a shooting star rising to the top—then I came straight back down.

It was a complete shock to the system and it had a big knock-on effect on my confidence,” reminisces Rosalia. “Once it happened, I acted straight away because it was such a horrible Quick start position to be in and I wanted to get out of it.” Starting a company without time to plan it was Determined to succeed once again, Rosalia a big challenge for Rosalia. “I had no money founded two companies in 2020, Elevici and and no reserves. We had just bought a house The Content Hive, which offered business so all my money was tied up in renovations. I development training and marketing services, had to borrow my husband’s personal laptop respectively, with the goal of making financial to use for work and just about managed to services more accessible. During lockdown, justify paying for LinkedIn Premium. I was when advisers were shut off from their using the free version of Canva for the first usual avenues of connecting with current few months,” she recalls. However, not and potential customers, Rosalia saw an wanting to start her businesses laden with opportunity to help financial services firms debt, Rosalia avoided taking out a loan to develop their digital networking. "I’ve been launch Elevici and The Content Hive. a customer, a broker “ Hav i ng to and a lender. I know declare publicly how disconnected it t hat I had lost can feel when you’re my job and I was trying to get access to starting a business “I’VE BEEN A finance, so I want to in the middle of CUSTOMER, A give our society the the pandemic [was best education and daunting],” she BROKER AND A access to the best adds. “The hardest LENDER. I KNOW advisers,” she says. part was waiting Since then, the f o r p e o p l e ’s HOW DISCONNECTED entrepreneur decided reactions. I was IT CAN FEEL WHEN to combine the two worried they were brands in 2020 into going to laugh at YOU’RE TRYING what is now Manuka me and say ‘She TO GET ACCESS Med ia. T he f i r m just wants to play of fers a ra nge of around with social TO FINANCE, SO I services—including media’."

WANT TO GIVE OUR social media training According t o Ro s a l i a , at and marketing SOCIETY THE BEST t h e time she campaigns on various EDUCATION AND l a u n ched her platforms, content business, many marketing strategy, ACCESS TO THE f i r m s d id not video editing and BEST ADVISERS” more—in order to view social media amplify mortgage as an important brokers’ and IFAs’ aspect of their brands and generate marketing. “Many more business. people still aren’t taking social media seriously, but my clients that do are reaping the rewards,” she says.

Nevertheless, she persevered, and it soon paid off, as her business grew and she even published a book—‘Social Media Guide For Mortgage Brokers: How to Grow Your Brand on Social Media’—which quickly became the number one best-selling book across multiple categories on Amazon just shortly after being launched. “I’ve built my business from pure profit and I replaced my full-time income immediately. I am really proud to have built Manuka Media purely from sales and profit off the back of social media,” she says.

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Nov/Dec 2023

Feature

Rosalia Lazzara-Tilley

Online and on camera

Manuka Media has worked with a range of clients, including fintech platform UnderwriteMe. The company develops technology products for the life insurance industry. Rosalia worked with the company over six months, coaching and strategising on a LinkedIn-based awareness campaign to bring in more protection advisers and mortgage brokers as clients. “I gave them content ideas and showed them how to grow their following among intermediaries,” she says. “From the first post I helped them work on, the firm’s engagement on LinkedIn immediately tripled.”

Rosalia also works with clients to overcome a fear of being on camera, which she calls her “superpower”.

In a full-circle moment, she also worked with her previous employer in September this year, three years after losing her job with the firm. “Together got back in touch with me after Manuka Media launched and I was a paid keynote speaker at its Women in Finance event, running a personal branding workshop,” she says.

As well as large-scale corporate clients, Rosalia works with boutique firms. “I work a lot with Paul Holland from Henchurch Lane Financial Services, who went from hating logging in to his Instagram and having no interest in social media to getting two to three leads a day from social media posts. It has basically created a new passive stream of income, which we run for him. We make the videos, write the content and work on the engagement of his profile,” she elaborates, adding that the social media exposure directly leads to more business for the firm from specific types of customers that the company wants to attract.

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Feature

Get them young

Outside running Manuka Media, Rosalia visits schools to speak to young people about financial literacy. “I talk to them about mortgages, budgeting and how to start a business. I get them thinking about alternative career routes using my journey as an example of someone who had always been in a safe job and then suddenly started their own business,” she says.

“It’s very important to me to speak to young people because the next generation who are in school now will be our next prime ministers and leaders. If we don’t give Creating a buzz them a good foundation, they will be making Rosalia also runs the Money Honey podcast, economic decisions in the future without a which was launched in December 2022. knowledge base.”

The podcast She is also a brings on board brand ambassador women f rom for Female Invest, a the industry, in financial education order to illustrate platform for women how far they have “HAVING TO around the world. c ome, i n s pi re DECLARE PUBLICLY This role sees Rosalia one another, and contribute in different change the narraTHAT I HAD LOST ways—recently, she tive of finance as MY JOB AND I WAS wrote an article for a male-dominated t h e c o m p a ny o n trade.

STARTING A BUSINESS how to get on the It is this sentiIN THE MIDDLE property ladder and ment that inspired understand mortt he bee-ba sed OF THE PANDEMIC gages and personal branding for the [WAS DAUNTING]. finance, which was Money Honey podcast and t hen t u r ned i nto THE HARDEST a video course, for Manuka Media.

PART WAS WAITING which she was one of “Bees all work independently, the keynote speakers.

FOR PEOPLE’S but t he n t hey “It’s not just about REACTIONS—I go back to t he teaching financial advisers to use social colony and bring WAS WORRIED media. The reason I all their resources THEY WERE GOING teach them to do that together to make is so that together, the honey,” she TO LAUGH AT ME we can use social says. “I don’t want AND SAY ‘SHE JUST media as an educato be known as the queen bee. tional platform for WANTS TO PLAY I ’m t r y i n g t o free to empower our AROUND WITH network,” she says. show that we are all worker bees SOCIAL MEDIA’” working together on something and, when one of us wins, we all win.

“I want to celebrate women and showcase the fantastic talent we have in this industry without competition,” she adds. “There are so many talented women in this industry who are very quiet about it because they don’t want to be seen as boastful. But it’s not about bragging—it’s about changing people’s perspective of the industry and inspiring people.”

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Nov/Dec 2023

Feature

Book on the road

Out of everything she has built so far, Rosalia tells me the publication of her book has been her biggest achievement to date. “It has really elevated everything that I’m doing and taken it to a new level. It’s another passive income for us, but it’s also [beneficial] for the financial services industry. I feel like I’m helping the masses now,” she says.

Rosalia chose to bring the book to life in order to make her knowledge of social media accessible to everyone. “The reason I started Manuka Media was to change the Rosalia worked with Inspired By Publishing face of financial services and make it more to revise each chapter—she explains that all accessible to people, and yet I was keeping the chapters were written by herself, with the work I was doing away from people—but the publisher helping out to proofread them now for £14.95, everyone can have access to and offer feedback. “They would let me know my knowledge.” if I had lost my personality in the writing in The book has reached number one some of the chapters, or if one section needed bestseller on Amazon in seven categories, a few more exercises, things like that.” including the After working w it h a g raph ic financing mortgages designer for the category. In the f ront cover a nd UK, it reached the “I DON’T WANT TO 106th spot on the some last-minute overall bestsellers changes—thanks to BE KNOWN AS THE list.

Twitter rebranding QUEEN BEE. I’M “I always knew to X—the book I wanted to write was then released TRYING TO SHOW a book eventually, in October this year THAT WE ARE ALL and had some parts after a social media of it written from adver t isement WORKER BEES around 2020 and campaign to build WORKING TOGETHER 2021. I got very interest. serious about it in While there’s ON SOMETHING AND, no doubt she has January this year WHEN ONE OF US because, before achieved so much all then, I didn’t have through hard work WINS, WE ALL WIN” the budget to invest and sheer determiin it properly,” she nation, Rosalia has rec a l l s. “ T hen, no intentions to rest in April, I had to on her laurels. She rewrite everything from scratch because I is keen to continue sharing her knowledge had been trying to incorporate what I had with as many people as possible—and is why written in previous years, but it just was not she plans on spending the coming months working. I had about six chapters that needed taking the book on the road for a tour aimed to be scrapped.” at lender network platforms and brokerages.

“I want to take the book on tour so I can do more speaking gigs, because those are my calling,” she says. “The best way I can empower people to take action is to speak to a crowd and get them to feel differently and absorb the energy I can give.”

On top of this, she is determined to further help brokers across the sector utilise social media to their advantage, and drive education for the younger generations. “I see money and finances as a fundamental pillar of life, so I want to give our society access to the best knowledge. We need to educate society and the next generation to give them a solid, healthy money mindset so they can make better decisions.”

Bridging & Commercial

22

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Feature

Nadine Buckland, founder and CEO of Zenzic Capital, knew she was a better entrepreneur than employee. She talks about Zenzic’s growth since it was set up a decade ago and supporting the next generation of developers

cale Words by

BETH URE

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Nov/Dec 2023

Feature

t is fair to say that Nadine’s journey to heading up a real estate credit firm has been a circuitous one—but she wouldn’t have it any other way. Her earlier career saw her work in multiple areas, including in institutional sales at F&C, at a firm that helped grow organisations within non-banking markets, and in insolvency.

“My dad used to tell me I wouldn’t be a good employee and would need to do my own thing—but it took me a while to realise he was right,” Nadine says. “Working in insolvency gave me a brilliant background because I was looking for ways to create liquidity and solutions to provide capital back to investors. But I always knew I wanted to be in business.”

Nadine often struggled to ”play a corporate game” in her roles before Zenzic. “I don’t like boxes, rules and processes for processes’ sake. I just wanted to run a good business so, while I was a good employee, I didn’t always tick every box,” she states.

“In a lot of organisations, it’s not just about doing well in your role and getting the work done—it’s about following all the rules, which I’m not particularly good at.”

Working in insolvency, Nadine saw different types of counterparties coming in to purchase businesses, and noticed a real wall of capital being created in the UK after the global financial crisis. “A lot of funds set up in the US were moving to the UK and looking to deploy capital, but they didn’t necessarily have people on the ground to do that," she added.

It was while working to help those businesses structure their initial funds and deploy capital that Nadine met Tom Lloyd-Jones—who had significant experience from previously working for EY and as a solicitor at Macfarlanes—and the pair realised their individual skill sets were well matched for a partnership. And so, the two teamed up to launch Zenzic Capital in 2014, set up initially as an advisory business.

“Tom has a very strong financial acumen and structuring experience and I had some of that mixed with the ability to originate transactions and execute deals,” Nadine says. “It was a combination of the two that made us think this could be a route—and that was the birth of Zenzic.”

Bridging & Commercial

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Feature

No office, no equity backer

Zenzic began as an advisory business— initially focused on opportunistic credit with large ticket sizes of £50m-150m—before eventually moving into investment management. “Tom and I decided over some drinks one evening that we didn’t want to work for big corporate organisations anymore. Starting as an advisory firm meant we didn’t have to put any capital into the business at the outset,” Nadine says. “We wanted to do something for ourselves that utilised our skill sets.”

In the first years of the business, both Nadine and Tom did not take salaries—in fact, the two would drive into London and go from meeting to meeting, taking conference calls in a car. “I keep joking that I want to go and find that car so we can have part of it in the office as a reminder of the things you have to do when you start a business,” she tells me. “It was all about reinvesting capital, bootstrapping the firm until we were in a position to hire more people and start to grow.”

Mezzanine certainty

Zenzic started lending in its fourth year, focusing on low-ticket mezzanine financing within the property market—which, according to Nadine, was an untapped market at the time. This meant she and Tom could use the firm’s balance sheet to fill the capital tickets themselves.

“We became fairly well known for institutionalising mezzanine tickets of sub-£3m,” Nadine states. “The mezzanine real estate finance market was typically made up of HNW individuals who sometimes did not perform at the point that the developer required funding, so we wanted to give certainty to those developers that were looking for that extra capital.”

“The decision to move into the whole loan market was a direct result of our borrowers looking to continue the relationship that we had originally started as a mezzanine lender. The developers had grown, and so had we”

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Nov/Dec 2023

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Setting up to scale

With scaling up a high priority, Nadine was keen to build processes and procedures to allow the business to grow. “It looked like a heavy process in terms of underwriting, due diligence and credit committees—people would expect those systems in a bigger, more established lender than we were at the time. We did that from the outset because, ultimately, we knew we wanted to build our funds under management and grow into larger ticket sizes over time,” she explains.

After focusing on mezzanine lending to grow its funds under management, Zenzic then moved into the whole loan space for real estate development. Overall, Nadine tells me the business growth has been fairly organic.

“The decision to move into the whole loan market was a direct result of our borrowers looking to continue the relationship that we had originally started as a mezzanine lender.

The developers had grown, and so had we.”

Even after the birth of her children, Nadine continued to grow Zenzic—something she views as her biggest career achievement so far. “It’s not an easy thing. I am driven by my desire to create a great business of scale, but I also want to be a great mother. Most people define a good mother as one that is around for her children morning, noon and night, which I am not able to do. My children are five and six now, so I have to explain to them why I’m not around all the time and hope that, when they get older, they will see the positives of it, and will motivate them to see what I’ve tried to achieve in life.”

“I understand the importance of having the drive and motivation to succeed. If the next generation of developers has the right attitude and vision, I think we can really help them on their journey”

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Nextgeneration developers

Looking ahead, Nadine plans for the firm’s real estate development finance strategy to focus on a combination of established SME homebuilders—which the company has supported in the past with mezzanine financing—and aspiring developers. “I understand the importance of having the drive and motivation to succeed. If the next generation of developers has the right attitude and vision, I think we can really help them on their journey,” Nadine adds.

The firm gave up its advisory arm in early 2022 and, by mid-2024, Nadine aims for Zenzic to have reached £150m of lending and regularly work with ticket sizes of up to £25m. “We are looking to accelerate the growth of the real estate development finance strategy, providing capital to developers for residential for sale, together with other sectors such as care homes, retirement living and BTR,” she elaborates.

Nadine also plans to expand the firm’s opportunistic credit strategy. “Our funds under management within this strategy sit at circa £300m. It’s a very different world in that space as ticket sizes are typically between £20m and £50m. Within this strategy, we utilise our decade of advisory experience to originate transactions, which focuses on the lower-middle market and is Europe wide,” she says. “This allows us to invest in different sectors within real estate, such as hotels and self-storage, so it’s not purely bed-sector led.”

As for the wider market, Nadine does not envisage further interest rate rises and predicts there will be a small reduction in rates in 2024 which will positively impact real estate values. “There will be pressure on the refinancing of operational real estate going into 2024–2025, which may put stress on borrowers who will have to put more equity into transactions in order to facilitate the refinancing. This, in turn, will create opportunities for us to support borrowers by providing a flexible capital solution,” she says.

Whether a borrower is experiencing stress or growth, Nadine is confident Zenzic is in a strong position to be a long-term partner for providing capital.

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Advertorial

SUPPORTING BROKERS IN AN EVER-CHANGING MARKET WHAT PRECISE MORTGAGES AND INTERBAY HAVE DONE IN 2023 With the financial landscape continuing to evolve and reshape itself at an extraordinary rate, specialist lending is increasingly stepping into the limelight and demonstrating its value. As we approach the end of another tumultuous year, the head of specialist finance for Precise Mortgages and InterBay, Marc Callaghan, talks about some of the things the brands are doing to ensure brokers can continue to meet their clients’ ever-changing needs

Bridging & Commercial

It’s been an incredibly busy but, ultimately, very satisfying year. Our focus has been on stabilising our position and growing our proposition, not to mention developing our service offering and building on the already strong relationships we’ve got with our broker partners. We decided very early on that we wanted to do things the right way—the OSB Group way—and, by being consistent in our process, I believe we’ve been able to achieve this.

We’ve brought out a number We launched our Select Partners panel for of innovations, such as setting InterBay back in March after recognising up our exclusive Select Partners brokers operating in the commercial and panel through InterBay, introduced semi-commercial space needed more support a range of products to help meet due to the highly specialised nature of this clients’ evolving requirements and type of business. strengthened our specialist finance We invited a select number of firms to sales team. join the panel, where they’re given access to We've also seen strong demand exclusive products, our relaunched commercial for commercial and semi-commerand semi-commercial bridging finance range, cial mortgages through InterBay and our standard bridging and developer and for bridging finance through exit finance options. They also benefit from Precise Mortgages. We’ve also dedicated support with consistent service seen strong demand for commercial from the same contacts across the InterBay and semi-commercial mortgages team, as well as enhanced personal contact through InterBay and for bridging with our underwriting and admin teams to finance through Precise Mortgages. keep them up to date with how their cases It’s enabled us to consolidate our are progressing. I’m pleased to say it’s gone reputation as one of the leading really well so far and it’s doing exactly what lenders in the specialist finance we wanted it to do. space and continue to build up a strong case pipeline.

HOW THE SELECT PARTNERS PANEL WORKS

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Advertorial

MEETING CLIENTS’ FINANCE DEMANDS With more borrowers looking to explore the benefits that energy efficient properties bring, we’ve introduced commercial pricing for properties with an EPC rating of C or above accessible via InterBay's Select Partners.

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Our developer exit finance range is aimed at experienced developers with a residential scheme that has reached practical completion, or those looking to raise capital on a development scheme to allow them to move to a new venture, or secure funds to complete a project before selling or refinancing.

The specialist market and the commercial Backing up the InterBay sector in particular are very technical. You offering, our enhanced refurneed the expertise and know-how of people bishment BTL range from Precise who’ve been working in the industry for Mortgages gives landlords a years, have got their hands dirty dealing choice of three exit products, with hundreds of complex cases and know depending on the type of work what it takes to get an application over the being carried out. Whether line. That’s not something you can get from they’re fitting a new kitchen, AI or a chatbot. looking to improve the energy We’ve freshened up our sales team over ef ficiency of a proper ty by the past year, bringing in new faces with bags installing double glazing or refurof good sector experience, and we’ve now bishing a property that already got six specialist finance account managers has a high EPC rating, there’s providing full UK-wide coverage across our an exit for them.

Precise Mortgages and InterBay brands.

They’re backed up by an office-based broker support team that provides telephone and web chat support so intermediaries can communicate with us in a variety of ways. All of this has been key in helping us to get out and about even more, educating the market about our proposition and demonstrating how we can help.

OFFERING BROKERS AND CLIENTS THE SUPPORT THEY NEED

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WHAT TO EXPECT NEXT YEAR Without the benefit of a crystal ball, it’s difficult to predict exactly what’s going to happen with any degree of certainty, but I think we’ll see interest in commercial and semi-commercial mortgages continue to grow as investors look for new opportunities. For example, we’ve seen good growth in lending for the student let market in recent months—this is something I expect to see more of in 2024.

It’s no secret that traditional BTL is becoming more difficult to return a decent yield from, so I think we’ll see more people turning to commercial and semi-commercial properties as a way to diversify their portfolios.

For intermediaries only Correct as of 29/11/23

Nov/Dec 2023

Interview

Ay e

r a

e h h t e l t m a

It’s been 12 months since Tom Cantor became head of bridging finance at West One Loans—and successful ones at that, as the business has seen record origination figures in 2023. I sit down with Tom to find out how he’s been faring so far, and to learn how he steadily steers the company through the current market storm Words by

ELLIOT TOPHAM Nov/Dec 2023

Interview

I

catch Tom via Zoom in between one of the many prior engagements that no doubt come with being the head of bridging finance. Tom was appointed to his position in September 2022 at the age of 30, after joining West One as an executive in 2019 before going on to spend time in the company’s servicing division, amassing experience in underwriting, management sales and finance and operations.

Initially, his career had been destined for other regions of the finance world. He started as an intern at the Royal Bank of Scotland in 2012, rising to become an assistant director a few years later before moving on to spending more than a year and a half as an associate at Baylor Klein, an M&A advisory company for businesses within the consumer goods industry—which offered him steady training and good footing for his roles later on.

However, Tom gradually sailed towards the specialist finance sector. “I was trained in investment banking, then met Danny [Waters, CEO at Enra Group] and Emily [Gestetner, CFO at Enra Group] and had an interview with them. I came on board without truly knowing what I was getting myself into, and it was always sort of ‘come along and see where it takes you’,” he recalls.

Despite this seemingly open attitude regarding his career destination, Tom was in no way nonchalant about where he wanted to be, even as he let the currents of the specialist finance world steer him. “When I first joined West One, I remember thinking that if I could get to head one of the divisions within the following few years, that would be quite an interesting place to be. And through quite a lot of hard work and probably a bit of luck, that happened.”

Now as head of bridging, a far cry from his days on the graduate programme at RBS, Tom sees the experience of those around him as a great advantage—but this also brings its own issues.

“For me, the biggest achievement and possibly one of the biggest challenges was [that] West One is synonymous with bridging finance and, when people think of specifically bridging at West One, they think of Danny. Coming in and trying to make that role my own and establish myself as head of bridging, when you're following in the footsteps of someone like Danny is very difficult, but he's helped me enormously, and I feel like I'm starting to make it my own,” he states.

The company’s people and reputation aren’t just a reminder of the experience and expertise that surround him—they also shape the direction in which Tom chooses to steer his division, and he sees no reason to stray from its current course.

“The reality is, it wasn't really about trying to reinvent the wheel, because the position of the bridging division at West One within the market was already well established, and it would have been wrong of me to come in and start thinking about new and different ways to do that. I think what I was very conscious of doing was just making sure that we maintained that position because it's a very, very competitive market,” Tom elaborates.

Bridging & Commercial

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Interview

Merge and grow

Quick risks

However, Tom’s tenure has not been a standstill. His role of “solidifying” West One’s position—as he sees it—has included merging the BTL and bridging divisions and extending coverage across the country to under-represented areas.

It can be argued that, so far, Tom has been successful in this. In July this year, the bridging division contributed to the company’s record £190m in originations—its highest figure since its establishment. “Achieving record months in terms of origination isn't a secret in itself, and that was true not only in bridging in July, but also across the whole business. Amid the market conditions, to deliver a record month is something I'm proud of,” says Tom. West One’s bridging and development divisions have their own ambitious targets for 2023, with the aim of originating £1bn in short-term lending in total. This follows a record-breaking previous year, with bridging contributing to West One’s overall short-term lending completions—which increased by 13% year-on-year, reaching £915m. And while Tom sees his role at West One through somewhat modest eyes, he can take reassurance that, since taking the head of bridging role, the division’s loan book has grown by around 25%.

As Tom sees it, the strong position achieved and maintained by West One comes from not shying away from making calls before the competition—something Tom finds imperative, especially with the uncertainty in the market, exacerbated by high interest rates.

“We are always on the front foot with our risk appetite. So, repricing at a time when interest rates were going up—we didn't sit back and wait for two or three months to see how the market played out.

We repriced as soon as we thought it was the right time to do it, and that happened to be before our competitors did. This was counterintuitive, really, because it meant that our volume and our position in the market were unattractive for a period of time,” he explains.

“In our opinion, there's no point writing loans which don’t make economical sense.

We're very dynamic and flexible, and coupled with the fact that we have an extremely strong capital position, that really puts us in a good spot.”

Even with the wealth of knowledge and expertise surrounding him, his first year as head of bridging brought its own difficulties, often outside of his control.

“Coming into this role in [those challenging] market conditions has probably given me the best grounding to learn and allowed me to manage all the possible risks that could appear at any one time. It’s been a baptism of fire,” he states.

The global financial and geopolitical climate isn’t lost on Tom. Even with three years of experience in the bridging industry, the past 12 months have been a learning curve.

Like the company he works at, he too must adapt to a time of uncertainty. “It's given me a great appreciation of just how many factors contribute to the performance of not only the bridging sector, but also the wider housing market,” he adds.

“I am not afraid of making decisions, whether they’re easy or tough”

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Nov/Dec 2023

Interview

“Coming into this role in [those challenging] market conditions has probably given me the best grounding to learn and allowed me to manage all the possible risks that could appear at any one time. It’s been a baptism of fire” Bridging & Commercial

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Interview

Selling shortterm security With uncertainty also comes opportunity, particularly for bridging finance—according to Tom, people have been opting for shortterm funding to tide them over, while they wait for the longer-term markets to stabilise.

“Because people aren't really investing in that sector in the way that they were 12–18 months ago, that gives an opportunity for bridging,” Tom says.

Regardless of how the specialist finance industry and the wider economy will fare, Tom has one priority as head of bridging—he wants his team to trust and feel confident in him as a leader, as he strongly believes this is the key to success.

“When I say and do things, they know that it's going to happen. I am not afraid of making decisions, whether they’re easy or tough. I don’t shy away from having difficult conversations with people, while always being honest and fair. It sounds quite straightforward but, if people have confidence in you and trust you, they believe in you more, and that helps.

You establish longer and deeper relationships with people, which, ultimately, is what the whole business thrives on.”

“We’re very dynamic and flexible, and coupled with the fact that we have an extremely strong capital position, that really puts us in a good spot”

37

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Interview

‘The relationships we have with lenders, brokers, valuers and our own team members have made us successful’

LOUISE CHAPMAN It’s been a successful year for VAS Valuation Group, with the company seeing solid growth and a B&C Award for Best Specialist Finance Partner despite prevailing market uncertainty.

The firm’s commercial director Louise Chapman hints at surprises for next year and talks about giving brokers control and the importance of getting your facts right at the start of valuation

Words by

ANDREEA DULGHERU

Bridging & Commercial

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Interview

How has VAS Valuation Group performed in 2023?

In short, very good indeed.

One of our yardsticks is the total value of property valuations going through the VAS Panel and VAS Assurance businesses, and this has risen by over 40%.

Our biggest achievement is the fact that we’ve seen over 3,500 brokers instruct valuations directly and have their own VAS dashboards, and through them we have delivered nearly 8,000 broker-led valuations. This is something that we’ve really pushed throughout the last few years and the message is really starting to hit home; with this process, the lender authorises the broker to request quotes and instruct their own valuations, while the finance provider has oversight of what’s happening with the valuations on their own dashboard.

To what does VAS Valuation Group owe this successful performance this year?

A number of different factors have contributed to this success.

The first one is our strong team—this year we’ve taken on 15 new team members to keep up with the growth and maintain our high level of customer service. They have gone through intensive training to give them confidence on how the business runs and how to deal with lenders and valuers, which helps keep that level of customer service really high.

It’s so important for the team to feel confident when working in an environment like this, because you're dealing with so many different relationships and every deal is bespoke, so making sure we give them that training before they come onto the office floor just really helps them and the business as well.

Another part of what I feel made us successful in 2023 is

Bridging & Commercial

our quality control processes.

Once a report comes in from the valuer, before it gets sent to the lender, it goes through a series of checks before being sent on. By being proactive, rather than retrospective, this avoids a lot of problems and speeds up the lending process.

We have a fantastic audit team as well, who have held senior positions at well-known national and global valuation firms.

Tech is also something which supports our team daily, and that's continuously progressing and developing. We're always striving to improve users’ experiences, internally and externally. This year, we've gone live with instant fee visibility, which allows lenders and brokers to see the valuers’ fees as and when they are sent to us on their individual dashboards, so they're not having to wait around to wait for three or four quotes to come in. We’ve also upgraded the tech internally to support our teams—they now have their own workflow boards, which really help organise the whole process, especially with the volume coming in.

Other than this, the relationships we have with lenders, brokers, valuers and our own team members have made us successful. We invest a lot of time in making sure we build these relationships in any aspect, and it’s really important that our lenders, brokers and valuers all feel valued.

You mentioned you have been actively promoting broker-led valuations this year. How does this work, and what are the benefits?

We’ve made the process as simple as possible. If the broker gets authorisation from a lender who works with VAS Panel to be able to instruct a valuation directly, they can approach us and ask for a VAS dashboard to be set up for them, which takes

minutes for us to do. When they open the dashboard, everything’s pretty much self-explanatory: they just fill in a valuation request form with the property details,, who the applicant is and some loan details. Once submitted, we’ll do the rest—we’ll go out to the valuers, put the quotes onto the dashboard and send them to the brokers via email. If the broker wants to instruct the valuation, they log back in, and select whichever valuer they want from the quotes provided.

Once that’s done and we receive the instruction, we package it all up, take the payment from the applicant, book in the valuation with the valuer and send the inspection date to the broker. We manage the whole process.

When the report comes in, we’ll do the quality control checks, then send the report to the broker, and the lender if it wants oversight of the case as well.

With certain finance providers, once they opened their doors to allow brokers to request the valuations, they have seen the speed of applications increase. The broker is the one speaking to the applicant directly, they’ll have more information so they’re able to provide more details about the property [for the valuation], and it’s more time efficient. Plus, it gives intermediaries another level of customer service.

VAS Valuation Group launched its Knowledge Hub in August. Why did you set this up?

We started talking about it at the beginning of the year.

We were discussing the things we could do as a business to give back to the industry, and Knowledge Hub was something that we thought would be a great tool. We encourage lenders, brokers and valuers to

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call or email us if they have any questions and, over the years, we’ve regularly been getting the same types of queries, so we thought it would be a really good idea to tackle some of the most popular ones and do short, snappy sound bites to answer these questions. It was for the broker community more than anything, but lenders enjoy it as well, especially for new starters.

We’ve got nigh on 20 videos so far; we’ve covered various things, such as industry myths, how to challenge a valuation etc, and we’re going to be putting out more over the next quarter. It’s something that the industry needs—that it didn’t know it needed—and it’s all about giving as much of our knowledge back to the industry to help out.

We encourage everyone to get involved. If you have a question about the valuation industry, let us answer it!

What are some popular valuation misconceptions you have encountered to date?

A few are floating about—which we’ve covered in our Knowledge Hub videos—one being centred around why an estimated GDV is needed at valuation quote stage when a lender is only being asked to lend against a building or land with planning and not the actual development. If a property has live planning, whether the applicant is developing the site or not, generally the main method of valuation used to calculate the market value is the residual method. This involves working back from the GDV, deducting construction costs, professional fees, developers required profit and a few more factors, in order to determine the market value.

Another is why readdressed reports are not as simple and sometimes more expensive than anticipated.

This is because lenders

Interview

“THE INFORMATION BEING CORRECT AT THE FRONT IS KEY FOR THE VALUATION PROCESS. IF THAT’S THE CASE, THEN THE REST SHOULD FOLLOW SMOOTHLY” have different valuation reporting requirements and any existing report that has been done for one lender needs to be updated to be in line with the new finance provider’s requirements. A good example is the basis of valuation—some lenders might request a market value, which would take into account any value attributed to any occupational leases, some might want vacant possession only, assuming a restricted marketing period of 180 days, and so on. So the values in a readdressed report might actually be different and this requires time for the valuer to update.

In your opinion, what’s the biggest issue that negatively affects the valuation process, and how can this be remedied?

I think the main sticking point is if the information provided at the start of the process is incorrect. If that happens, the valuer will go out and report that the property is not as described. The property complexity might be outside their expertise, or they’ll require additional funds to continue if the valuation is more substantial than originally thought. This could mean we’d have to cancel that job and find another valuer,

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which starts the whole process again.

For me, the information being correct at the start end is key for the valuation process.

If that’s the case, then the rest should follow smoothly—the right valuer will be instructed and the report will come in line with the lenders’ requirements.

We have some exciting changes coming soon to our Alternative Term Loan.

What are VAS Valuation Group’s plans for 2024?

We do have a few tech projects which we're working on and there will be surprises for next year, so watch this space.

These are centred around supporting our clients with increased efficiencies with the best possible outcomes.

We are constantly managing our valuation panel to make sure our clients have the best in market valuers available to them with the correct experience for every asset type. Other than this, we’re potentially considering different opportunities within the valuation space. Obviously, our heart sits within the bridging market—this is where we started and where we will always remain—but we could also be looking at other areas of specialist finance.

Get in touch to find out more 020 8349 5190

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SEARCH AND POST DEALS AND JOBS IN THE SPECIALIST FINANCE MARKET

1min ago

PLACE MY DEAL

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PASSING DOWN YEARS OF WISDOM Over the decades, the specialist finance sector and attitudes within it have changed significantly, amid the peaks and troughs of economic cycles. What wisdom do the old hands have to impart to those starting out? And what do newcomers want to know?

Words by

ANDREEA DULGHERU Photography by

ALEXANDER CHAI

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T

here’s no denying that the specialist finance industry has gone through multiple economic cycles, each of them bringing its own changes and moulding the next stage. As history tends to repeat itself, those who have been in the industry for a while may find it easier to get through the difficult times. Could they help those who are relatively new to the industry?

On a Tuesday evening, we gathered three industry experts with over 20 years of experience in specialist finance—Liz Syms, CEO at Connect IFA; Vic Jannels, CEO at the ASTL; and Lorenzo Satchell, sales director for bridging at Hampshire Trust Bank (HTB)—as well as three industry newcomers— Becky Chissell, investor relations associate at Avamore Capital; Richard Coombs, credit analyst at Aspen Bridging; and Sandip Patel, specialist mortgage broker at The Loans Engine—to compare and contrast their experiences of working in this sector and learn from each other.

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Cover Story Richard Coombs

Liz Syms: My first experience of doing mortgages was when Prudential decided to be a broker, and we had a panel with three lenders. I found I loved mortgages, and so I took the opportunity to start my own business and have access to all the finance providers in the market. My first specialist case was a gentleman who had a converted house; he was living in one part of it and had three tenants in different rooms in the other part. He had a second charge on it with some arrears and a bankruptcy about three years prior, and he needed to borrow some money. I couldn’t do it on day one, and it really bugged me, so I went to every single lender available, but couldn’t place the deal. About four or five months later, a new lender came up—I think it was called Southern Pacific or something along those lines—and the case fit there. So I think, for me, the biggest thing that stuck out is that there is not much that you can’t place with enough will and time.

Andreea Dulgheru: What did the market look like when you started your career, and what is one thing that stuck in your mind about that period of time?

Vic Jannels: When I joined the industry in 1972, if someone wanted to take out a mortgage, there were two questions: how much investment have you got, and how long are you prepared to wait in the queue?

You didn’t just ask for a mortgage—you had to prove your worth and wait for it to be offered. People had to invest large sums of their earnings in savings accounts before a lender would consider putting them on their waiting list for when mortgage funds became available, and they were in short supply. Interest rates were around 14% at the time, and the income multiple calculation was around 2.5x, but house prices were low. The first property I bought, a three-bedroom Victorian terraced property, was £2,500.

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Lorenzo Satchell: When I entered the mortgage market, underwriting was quite tight in my opinion but, as time went by, that became more relaxed. What stuck out to me at the time is that the mortgage market was one-size-fits-all. If you didn’t tick those boxes, you were not going to be successful.

When I first came into the industry, there was only a small selection of specialist lenders and products, and you could even argue there weren’t that many brokers at that stage compared to now. But, as times have evolved, we’ve seen more lenders and more innovative products coming into the specialist space. So, going back to Liz’s point, there should be a home for pretty much every transaction now.

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Liz Syms

AD: What about the newcomers? How did you find the market when you first joined the industry, and was there anything that surprised you?

Becky Chissell: I started in January 2021, halfway through the Covid-19 pandemic, just before interest rates went up, and that was wildly surprising for me. It’s definitely been a wild road race, but I think it was beneficial for me as I learned that during harder times, you have to be a bit more creative when getting deals completed.

“I think a lot of people with transferable skills can get into the market quite easily. I wouldn’t say there are, typically, too high barriers to entry”

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Sandip Patel: The biggest surprise for me has been the number of products available.

Prior to joining this sector, I was an estate agent, selling, renting and managing properties for residential landlords. Coming from that industry, I was only aware of residential mortgages for your home or standard BTL loans. Bridging was something I didn't even know existed until I got into this industry.

Touching on Lorenzo’s point about every deal having a home, that is what I’m finding now. Every case that comes through, there is something different about it, but there’s definitely a place for it within the industry somewhere.

Richard Coombs: I joined a year ago, when things were up in the air following the Truss administration. The biggest thing for us at the time was trying to figure out how to stay well placed within the market while all other lenders were chopping and changing their rates on what seemed to be a daily basis. The other thing I noticed pretty quickly was that the majority of brokers, particularly those with experience, know whether their deal is right for us as a finance provider according to our lending criteria, and just how well they understand where they need to place it. That’s quite important, because it saves us and them a lot of time, particularly in the specialist industry where time is key. That being said, despite bridging’s traditional emphasis on speed, I’ve found that over the past six months, things have been taking a little longer on the borrower side—they just don’t seem in that much of a rush and that, I suspect, is a result of volatility in the market and plans being thrown out the window.

Lorenzo: I think there’s hesitancy in the market on whether they should or shouldn’t buy. Obviously, that’s a lot to do with interest rates and which way they are going, and what they’re buying the property for: if it’s to refurbish it and flip it or retain it for rental. Then there are development exits as well—that’s an interesting one, and I’m certainly seeing a lot more of these. Initially, they were for sales, which is really what the development exit principle should work on.

But what you tend to find now is borrowers are looking to retain those properties and wait until the market turns.

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VJ: You’ve got a lot of people trading up or down, and a bridging loan is an immediate option for them to demonstrate that they can raise the capital—but, actually, they don’t want to do it, they’d rather sell their property first. So, while you’ve got this immediate rush to get the agreement from the lender, the client will often then sit tight in the hope they can sell the property without needing the bridging loan, while also having it as a backup.

AD: How has the specialist finance industry evolved over the years?

VJ: Before the recession, more and more specialist lenders were coming into the market, a lot of which were American funded.

NINJA [no income, no job, no assets] mortgages were around that time, but when the recession hit hard, most of them vanished almost overnight. Going back to what Liz said earlier, if you had enough contacts and knowledge, you could do a mortgage for almost any reason. Today, it’s totally different in that lenders—quite rightly—are much more circumspect in the way they do their underwriting, which is important, because there’s a client’s future in our hands.

VJ: With regulators, 99% of the time you’ll get a good outcome, but there are occasions where it simply goes a little bit too far and there’s a need for more discussion. The problem doesn’t lie with the regulator—it lies with us. The regulator, before it changes anything, issues a consultation paper, but the number of responses from the industry on that consultation paper is almost always minimal; those people who’ve got a gripe against what they’re trying to do may not have bothered to take the time and the effort to respond.

It’s a bit like not voting; if you don’t vote, you can’t complain. And if a consultation paper comes out, you and your firm should take the time to read and respond to it. You can’t rely on organisations like Connect or the ASTL or major banks to do that in your stead. You have to do it because the more responses the regulator gets, the more it’ll understand what potential issues are out there in the market. Regulation is a good thing and should be applauded, but we should take the regulator to task to make sure it doesn’t do things that are not good for the market.

L-R: Becky Chissell and Vic Jannels

Lorenzo: T here’s also much tighter regulation…

VJ: Obviously, that’s to provide more protection for the consumers.

Richard: How much of that is positive, and how much is restrictive?

Liz: I think tighter regulation is important to protect a certain demographic of customers.

I remember back in the day, there were self-certified mortgages, which you can’t do any more. For certain types of customers, it was a very good product but it was abused by borrowers who couldn’t afford it. The trouble with any regulation is you’ve always got to play to the lowest denominator, and it is a necessary evil.

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L-R: Vic Jannels and Lorenzo Satchell

AD: Do you think it’s easier or harder to get into the specialist finance market now?

Liz: I joined the sector as an IFA but, because I was working at a letting agent, I fell into the specialist sector through BTL. I think most people come into the market as mortgage advisers, get their CeMAP, do some mainstream lending, work in a bank or a building society and then they find out about bridging and morph into that. I don’t think there’s a natural career path to come straight into specialist finance.

AD: This increase in regulation that you pointed out: was this a gradual move throughout the years, or did a specific tipping point trigger this?

Lorenzo: I think it has been a gradual move but, when the credit crunch came, you started to see that accelerate. Like Vic said, a number of consultation papers had to come out of that time, and regulation got tighter, which obviously was needed, because it was like Armageddon at that time.

Liz: I think regulation is needed, but part of the problem is that we had a whole raft of regulations one after the other. We had the mortgage credit directive, consumer credit coming under the FCA, the appointed representative regime changes and now we’ve got consumer duty. It’s the same as landlords being battered [by new rules].

You want regulation, but you want to get it right rather than have it constantly changing.

Every time there’s a new modification, you’ve got to then alter your processes and your documentation, and it’s additional work for lenders and brokers.

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BC: I did a Masters in Real Estate at the University of Reading, so I was always potentially going into that specialist sector.

But I work with a lot of people who, like yourselves, have worked in an estate agency, and they come in and do more on the sales side of things. I do think it is quite open, and I think a lot of people with transferable skills can get into the market quite easily. I wouldn’t say there are, typically, too high barriers to entry.

Liz: To get into advising, you don’t have to go down the traditional route of getting a qualification because, from a regulation point of view, a large percentage of what is done in the specialist finance market doesn’t require a qualification. That’s not necessarily a good thing but, equally, the CeMAP doesn’t really prepare people for it. That’s why it’s great that FIBA and ASTL have come together and created with the London Institute of Banking and Finance (LIBF) the Certified Practitioner in Specialist Property Finance (CPSP) qualification.

SP: I am now doing the course, and so are three of my colleagues.

RC: I did that course and thought it was fairly straightforward. I can only assume that was on purpose to ensure the learning process was accessible and not mind-blowingly complex.

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“THINKING ABOUT HOW THE SECTOR CAN IMPROVE, IT’S A MATTER OF EDUCATION. I THINK LENDERS HAVE A DUTY OF CARE TO BROKERS OR PACKAGERS, WHO SHOULD ALSO APPLY THIS TO THEIR CLIENTS ACCORDINGLY”

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RC: I suppose the reason why I thought it basic is because I started in specialist finance, and not from the broker adviser side so, in my first six months, this specialist information was the only thing I learnt. If I went to do my CeMAP now, I’d probably think the mainstream lending content was difficult!

Liz: One of the surprising things about working in this sector is finding that the majority of brokers in the mainstream market don’t really understand the breadth of what you can do in the specialist finance industry.

Lorenzo: Thinking about how the sector can improve, it’s a matter of education. I think lenders have a duty of care to brokers or packagers, who should also apply this to their clients accordingly.

Liz: That’s a really good point. I remember back in the day, for every BDM who would come into our office, we’d get our master spreadsheet out, which had really intricate headings. What this approach did for us was not only give us a point of reference when we got a case, but also get us to learn when we were having these conversations and exploiting those grey areas, because there’s a lot of that in the specialist market. I think the criteria systems we’ve got at the moment are fantastic, but there’s a bit of a lost art in terms of getting that knowledge.

Sandip Patel

VJ: It wasn’t supposed to be complex. It was intended to be a transition for people who may have done their CeMAP but had been down the same route that many of us took: working for a building society or a bank, becoming a mortgage broker and doing traditional high-street lending, then realising that specialist lending existed. What it was designed for was simply to get people to understand specialist lending. So far, more than 500 people have registered and 50 have passed the test already, but the qualification does need to be tidied up now. So there will be a next phase, which will come maybe in the next 18 months or so, to toughen it up a little bit.

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BC: We have one of those online calculators and anyone can use it to type in and put in the basics, but those calculations don’t take into account all these variable factors that you need to consider. Sometimes, you do get those cases that tick all the boxes. But it’s all about having that knowledge and understanding why a lender may reduce their leverage based on different factors.

VJ: Every lender has criteria, but it’s about what you understand outside of it that makes the difference.

Liz: Also, for brokers coming into the specialist market for the first time, it’s understanding that in mainstream lending you are picking a product off the shelf, whereas with bridging and commercial finance, things start to be a little bit more fluid. It becomes about how well you can present your customer to this lender, so the finance provider can understand everything about the client and really want to lend to them and give them the best terms.

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“ONE OF THE REASONS THE CPSP QUALIFICATION WAS PUT TOGETHER WAS TO MAKE IT A BETTER JOURNEY FOR THE END USER. THE CUSTOMERS PAY OUR SALARIES: WHY SHOULDN’T WE GET IT RIGHT FOR THEM? WITHOUT THEM, WE’VE GOT NO JOB. NONE OF US WOULD BE HERE” 61

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AD: Do you think that the market overall has evolved in terms of knowledge and education?

VJ: I’m staying quiet for this one [laughs].

Liz: It doesn’t matter which timeframe you’re in, there will always be some brokers who are better prepared than others. But I’d say there’s still a bit of a gap in terms of education and self-regulation.

VJ: Every client’s circumstances are different, and you need to know what all the nuances are to fit the right product to the right requirement. You owe it to your client [to be good].

That’s what this education programme— which we’ve been working on for so long—is designed to do. It’s so the broker isn’t just thinking about the money that they’re going to earn out of selling the bridging loan, but rather doing what’s right for the client. If the customer likes what you do for them, they’ll come back and they’ll recommend other people to come to you. That’s why the really successful businesses out there are not overly bothered about brand-new business c om i ng t h rou gh the door, because they’re doing “The way I see things progressing, all is getting repeat a lot of people are going to be business, and that’s where the money is.

leaning towards having the CPSP qualification going forward. How long until everyone implements that though, nobody knows”

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AD: Vic, you’ve been in the sector for over 50 years. Why do you think it’s just now that we have a specialist finance qualification?

VJ: It’s long overdue and, in all fairness, the ASTL on its own has been trying to instigate this since around 2008, but it didn’t seem to capture the imagination of the market.

When I took on the role at the ASTL, my first meeting was with Adam Tyler of FIBA and over lunch, we talked about this and both agreed that an education programme was needed for the sector. People have to understand that if they’re going to do 90% of their mortgage business with high-street, straightforward lenders, and 10% is going to be unusual stuff, they still need to know about and understand specialist finance or they’re going to put their clients at risk. What we have to do is make sure we mitigate the risk for the borrower. It’s far too late but the qualification is here and hopefully it will be good for the future.

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AD: But surely, that puts them at risk? As a lender, if you want to work with all kinds of brokers, some may have the qualification, some may not. You do risk working with an adviser who might not know what they’re doing, and that will affect lenders in the long run.

AD: Do you think there was an attitude shift over the past few years that prepared the ground for the introduction of the CPSP? VJ: That’s an interesting question. When we announced what we were doing, the different reactions were amazing. Some brokers who were not necessarily long in the tooth said they knew what they were doing and would not bother with it, some older ones were quite positive about the CPSP, saying it was long overdue, and then you had the young, fresh entrants into the marketplace who are like sponges—they want to learn everything possible. So there was a mixed reaction until probably a year and a half or so ago, when we really started getting it out into the market.

That’s why, instead of doing it on our own, we brought in the LIBF, because it is the doyen in this market for examination and accreditation. That really helped us because, when people saw that the three of us were now working in tandem, all of a sudden it became a serious project.

Liz: A similar sort of thing happens in the mainstream market with BTLs. If you go to the likes of TMW or Virgin, you can’t do a BTL unless you have CeMAP, even though the regulator doesn’t require it. But only a dozen or so lenders have adopted that. So there are a lot of finance providers in the market that do residential and accept BTL from non-CeMAP-qualified advisers. The same thing is going to apply here. You’re going to have a market where some of those lenders eventually will say “We only want to deal with those with the specialist qualification” and others will just continue to take business, because that’s what they need to do.

SP: A nd, in your view, should it be compulsory for new entrants? Should all organisations—lenders, brokers—make it a mandatory qualification?

Liz: That is down to the lenders to decide.

Problem is, does that put them in the situation where they’re holding themselves up at a high level, or are they losing out on business? I think when you’re in a negative market and they want to reduce their business, then that would be a lever they could use. But, at the moment, they probably all want as much business as they can, so they don’t want to put unnecessary barriers in the way.

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“IT DOESN’T MATTER WHICH TIMEFRAME YOU’RE IN, THERE WILL ALWAYS BE SOME BROKERS WHO ARE BETTER PREPARED THAN OTHERS. BUT I’D SAY THERE’S STILL A BIT OF A GAP IN TERMS OF EDUCATION AND SELF-REGULATION”

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BC: On the back of that, you might have customers who naturally gravitate more towards a broker who has that qualification, just because there’s that trust element there, and who therefore may give you higher quality deals. That in turn works better for the lender, because you’ve got a superior customer and project, and a broker who knows what they’re doing.

Lorenzo: The way I see things progressing, a lot of people are going to be leaning towards having the CPSP qualification going forward.

How long until everyone implements that though, nobody knows, but I think it’s something that’s coming most definitely.

VJ: What’s quite exciting about it is that some of the insurers are actually encouraging their underwriters to take the qualification because, if they’re underwriting a claim on a short-term loan, then they probably need to understand the nuances behind why the product was provided. Lawyers have got some of their conveyancing people taking the qualification for the same reason. So this isn’t restricted to brokers.

Liz: I think tackling the networks is key, because they want a higher standard of brokers, and that’s where a large percentage of them sit. If networks could make it an entry point or a gradual change—for example, within six months you must have the qualification if you want to be an adviser—that potentially could happen.

VJ: The way that procuration fees occur, there’s a lot more money in writing a bridging loan than there is in a high-street, 25-year mortgage. And there’s a danger that unless people really understand the market, they’ll go down that route for the money rather than for the benefit of the client. One of the reasons the CPSP qualification was put together was to make it a better journey for the end user. The customers pay our salaries: why shouldn’t we get it right for them? Without them, we’ve got no job. None of us would be here. So, get it right, make it work and then the market will just continue to improve.

SP: You feel better as well, when you have done right by the customer.

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AD: We talked about the evolution of the specialist finance market in general and in terms of education. Do you think the industry has also improved in terms of gender equality, and mental health and wellbeing?

BC: I think there’s still work to do, particularly on gender equality. There are definitely a lot more female brokers [than before], but the majority I meet are male. I personally feel there’s a little bit more movement to make there.

RC: Some of our best introducers are women, some of them are men—that’s as you’d expect really. Obviously, there are more men in the industry, but I think that’s just reflective of the wider finance sector as a whole, and perhaps more specifically the property industry.

SP: It’s a pretty equal split between male and female advisers where I’m working, and equally I see a lot of females and males on LinkedIn, so it’s quite balanced—although it’s a bit too early to tell since I’ve just come into the market. In terms of working hours, I think it’s right. Where I am working at the moment, we do nine to six, Monday to Friday. After that, it’s cut off until you go into the next morning. There is no stress, and we take regular breaks. A very fine balance.

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AD: Is this what you experienced when you first joined the sector?

Liz: When I first started as an IFA, it was very male dominated. I remember going to one of my first big events with about 300 people there, and I was the only female adviser in that room—in fact, a couple of people came and asked me where the toilets were and where they could get a drink. I didn’t really feel discriminated against, but maybe that’s just my nature. I remember thinking: “Everyone is going to remember my face.”

Since then, this has gotten so much better.

I think with any kind of diversity, inclusion and so on and so forth, it’s very much down to the individual company somebody’s at in terms of what they experience. The market is generating a lot more awareness and that’s filtering down to the individual companies.

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Lorenzo: It’s an interesting topic really because, yes, there is more awareness in the industry now with regard to gender equality. Ironically, for most of my career I’ve worked for women in the market, which is a contradiction if you look at the numbers. But that’s the reality of it. We’ve always known it’s been a male-dominated market but I think, over recent years, there’s certainly been an impact there about getting the message over for gender equality. One of the things I’m very interested in is the part about health and wellbeing. I always say habits come from the top down. If I look back at my career, there was a habit about putting in 24/7. You get wrapped up in that whirlwind and days turn into weeks, weeks turn into months, then into years. One thing I do know is that this is not sustainable but, if you’ve done that for a long period of time, to buck the trend and reverse that bad habit is very difficult indeed. Within HTB now, I speak to other departments about my story, and what I’ve done to change things and get that work-life balance and self-care, which are key. It’s not just about what we’re doing in the marketplace—it’s about your self-care

and how you can portray that to others in the organisations that you’re working in.

Liz: I think it’s important to show a different perspective as well. When I went into my own business 25 years ago, I already had two children. And what I was able to do, by running my own business in this market, was to be there for my family and be flexible with the hours I did. I would pick my kids up from school, make their tea, do their bath routine, put them to bed, and then I’d work again until midnight because I could.

So, there are benefits to the flexibility of the type of work that we do as well, which I think are important to mention.

BC: Yes, I think the flexibility is great. It’s probably generated a little bit more attention from Covid-19 and working from home. It’s become more ingrained in people.

Lorenzo: Yes, it’s become more prominent.

There’s an argument that, since Covid-19, the pendulum swung from one side to the other, and we need to get that somewhere in between.

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BC: Yes, I agree with that. I’m sure you guys do speak to a lot of young people coming for advice, and that’s such an invaluable thing for us if we ever feel we want to learn something. If you can take a small portion of time out of your day to have a quick call, I think that’s great.

AD: And the experts, what advice would you have for the newcomers that you think will help them in their careers?

VJ: Very simple: never, ever be afraid to ask questions. No matter where you are, if you’ve got something you don’t understand, pick up the phone and talk to somebody—99% of people will be happy to respond to you. If you don’t do this, you’re missing out.

“Never, ever be afraid to ask questions. No matter where you are, if you’ve got something you don’t understand, pick up the phone and talk to somebody—99% of people will be happy to respond to you.

If you don’t do this, you’re missing out”

Bridging & Commercial

AD: As a final thought for our discussion, newcomers, what feedback would you give the experts in terms of how they can help you and others and how the industry can be shaped further?

SP: For me, it is mainly around education, which we have touched on quite a lot. When I came into the industry from my estate agency background, I did not know much about specialist finance. Much of what I learned came from internal managers at The Loans Engine, from speaking to lenders, their mortgage desks and BDMs, and placing deals with finance providers. If I had some level of external education apart from CeMAP, that would have led me to be further ahead in the journey.

RC: There isn’t much to say other than keep setting a good example, and keep talking about it, because we’re learning from those who’ve come before us. It’s not every day we get to actually interact with you guys, which is why I was so keen to come to this roundtable, to have these conversations.

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Liz: I would advise you to invest in your personal growth, which includes things like going to networking events, putting yourself forward and taking action because you will see different views. There are a lot of free events in this market so just go to as many as you can. When I first started going to rooms, there would be 100 people, all male, which was quite intimidating. My secret was I used to look for the one who looked more intimidated than I did and go and talk to them. And that really works; plus, you make a new friend.

Lorenzo: I can’t agree more with what Liz just said. Your biggest commodity is time. Imagine yourself on a train, and there is another one coming in the other direction, going past you like a flicker—that’s exactly how life goes.

Time is everything, so utilise it to the best of your ability, keep an open mind and speak to the right people.

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95% OF BROKERS SAID THEIR ALLICA BANK BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER WAS GOOD OR EXCELLENT. Source: Allica Bank’s Q2 2023 Broker Survey of 201 brokers

Allica Bank Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority (FRN: 821851). Registered office: 164 Bishopsgate, London EC2M 4LX. Registered in England and Wales with company number 7706156.

A united front Following United Trust Bank’s decision to establish two teams for unregulated and regulated bridging earlier this year, I set out to meet the experts leading the divisions and learn about the bank’s approach to specialist lending Words by ANDREEA DULGHERU Photography by ADRIAN POPE

One Day Sundeep Patel

Helen Wakeford

Becky Kidby

s I get inside United Trust Bank’s (UTB) main office near Moorgate for my first ever visit, just before I got to say hello to the bank’s bridging division director Sundeep Patel, a monotone static voice suddenly interrupts the greeting, announcing the commencement of the fire evacuation protocol. I’m immediately informed it’s just a fire drill, a necessary occurrence in one of London’s tallest buildings, and Sundeep tells me with a wry smile that I’m lucky I don’t have to take the stairs to descend the 28 floors to the ground today.

Luckily, the false alarm doesn’t last long, and just 10 minutes later, I find myself in a bright boardroom, sitting down with the bank’s bridging finance department leaders. Some of the faces before me are fairly new to the business—UTB’s head of servicing Adetayo (Tayo) Odukoya and head of sales Paula

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Purdy being the latest additions to the team, with Sundeep having joined just over a year ago. “A couple of things attracted me to joining UTB,” explains Paula. “First and foremost, the bank has an excellent reputation for being a trusted lender. The second was the opportunity to work with Sundeep again, after being coworkers at Together previously. I’d go as far as to say he’s the best manager I’ve worked for—he really listens and engages with you, and keeps you on the right track in a respectful way.”

The rest—including Becky Kidby and Helen Wakeford, the heads of underwriting for regulated and unregulated bridging, respectively—have been part of the bank for many years, but have recently been promoted into their new roles. The division is completed by the lender’s head of operations Anita Kirkbright— who unfortunately isn’t present during my meeting—who I’m told has tremendous experience in the industry and leads a superb group. “[Within the bridging department], we’ve had eight internal promotions, which

One Day Adetayo Odukoya

Paula Purdy

We’ve had eight internal promotions, which sends a very good message not just to the bridging team but also to the rest of the firm, as it shows we value our people”

sends a very good message not just to the bridging team but also to the rest of the firm, as it shows we value our people,” says Sundeep.

Despite the different lengths of time spent at UTB, there are two essential things that all the department heads have in common: extensive experience in the specialist finance market, and a shared passion and dedication to the business and to providing bridging loans to the bank’s clients—something Sundeep told me he was looking for ever since his appointment as director of bridging last year.

“The key is to have a senior management team that reflects the values of the bank—the one-team ethos. This year has been tough and 2024 will be as well but, if you’ve got the right people, you can meet those challenges and work your way through them,” says Sundeep. This one-team ethos and chemistry between the bridging division’s leaders are obvious from the way they interact as we chat in the bank’s boardroom—from the jokey quips to how they speak about the lender.

It is these relationships that ensure the bridging department works as smoothly as a well-oiled machine and the reason why it has had such a successful year. At the end of October this year, UTB’s bridging finance teams completed in excess of £300m of new residential asset loans.

Bridging lending, the UTB way On a typical day, the department heads each check their teams’ performance up to that moment in time, to guide the next steps. Each morning, Paula takes a look at the business done the previous day and assesses where the team is at against overall targets, thus identifying any areas where the bridging sales members would like to push further. Similarly, Becky and Helen inspect their underwriting dashboards to see what deals are due to complete that week, ensuring the team and the deals are

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progressing well towards completion and that the divisions are on track to meeting targets.

From a servicing point of view, Tayo also regularly monitors the previous day’s performance in terms of redemptions and repayments, and prepares ahead for the next few days to maintain the bank’s quality service.

Of course, lending doesn’t stop. For any deals that do not come through UTB’s fast-track service—which uses fintech solutions, such as biometric ID verification, AVMs and dual legal representation to swiftly progress straightforward bridging deals of up to £1m—and have some unusual elements, the first port of call for a broker would be the sales team. Paula tells me this could see a BDM get involved to discuss the case with the intermediary, after which the dedicated internal sales group will look after the enquiries. Accessibility to the team’s expertise is a key support for UTB’s broker partners.

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One Day

I believe 2024 will be a challenging year but, like most things, economic cycles turn, and we just want to be in the best position possible to support the market when that happens”

This is also when a standard due diligence is carried out around the borrower profile through Experian, Google and Companies House searches among others to identify any issues the UTB team needs to be aware of, such as adverse credit or liquidations.

By going through this process, which takes no more than four hours, the bridging team gains the confidence it needs to issue a DIP— which, according to Sundeep, will likely remain unchanged, subject to valuation and legals. For fast-track applications, the initial borrower due diligence is completed by the underwriting assistants that sit within the fast-track team, and is turned around much quicker than non fast-track applications, usually within a couple of hours.

For overseas borrowers or clients with links to overseas countries, the financial crime and compliance team is also engaged early on during this initial search to ensure everything is thoroughly checked before the deal goes to the underwriting stage, so the case can progress in a timely and efficient manner.

Bridging & Commercial

“The initial searches are an opportunity for us to raise these issues with the broker before we’ve gone to valuation and the customer parts with any money. If additional points are discovered, it just means we ask some further questions to get ourselves comfortable so, when it comes to the actual formal underwriting stage, the lion's share of that due diligence has been carried out right at the beginning,” explains Becky.

Checks and conditions Once the DIP is issued and the broker and borrower are happy to proceed with the full application, the case gets passed on to the specific underwriting team, depending on whether the deal is regulated or unregulated.

“With regulated lending, there will be certain elements that are non-negotiable, whereas with unregulated bridging, there’s a bit more room to manoeuvre,” says Becky. Helen adds

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that if a deal is over £2.5m, it gets passed to UTB’s central credit team as well, as a higher level of checking is carried out for this size of loan.

Before the offer letter is sent out, Helen and Becky themselves sign off each case after they’ve been underwritten, providing feedback to the underwriting team members as well to help develop their skills further.

The offer letter is then issued, and solicitors instructed—with communication between all parties ensured by the underwriting assistants. The last step of the deal is satisfying any pre-commencement loan conditions as swiftly as possible to enable completion and the drawdown of the monies. The number of pre-commencement conditions will depend on the complexity of the case, but generally, deals will have a few standard ones, such as security documentation, as well as bespoke ones tailored to the deal.

“We only put in the offer what we absolutely need to—we don’t want to subject the client to a raft of pre-commencement

One Day

conditions. It’s also important to give some context to the broker about why we are asking for certain information and why that’s beneficial in the long run,” explains Becky.

While Tayo and the servicing team get involved at the underwriting stage as well, their roles come in once the facility is completed, as they keep track of the deal progression and make sure they are managing the loan journey efficiently from completion to repayment.

Tayo and his team members are also in charge of checking for borrower vulnerabilities that might occur throughout the loan term, and provide any necessary support for the client to ensure the best outcome for them and the bank. “Part of the job is making sure that all parties have a clear understanding of what is expected for pre-commencement conditions, for example. One discussion I’m having with the team is about that early engagement with the customer. If a condition is set for the ninth month of a 12-month loan, there isn’t anything that stops us from engaging with that client in the first six months to ensure everything is progressing as it is intended to,” Tayo elaborates.

Oil for the lending engines Aside from these teams, there is one particular division that keeps the lending engines running from start to finish: the operations team, led by Anita.

She and her division members are the masters behind the bank’s back-end functions, such as the broker portal, API innovation and automation among others, as well as the constant updates that these systems and documentations require—including those for consumer duty, which was a particular focus for the team in the first half of the year. Sundeep tells me Anita and her team have also designed dashboards for all departments within the bridging division, based on their specific needs and ideas, which enable them to manage their day-to-day performance and identify business trends the lender might want to capitalise on.

Put simply, Anita and her trusty team members work closely with everyone else to ensure the lending process is smooth and to maintain cohesiveness within the bridging department. “Anita’s really approachable; she’s very keen to have people’s ideas from the team, and is open to hear if there are ways that we can improve something, or if there's a key thing that needs to go on the priority list for efficiency or improvement,” Becky tells me.

Collaboration breeds success From my conversation with the team, one thing stands out: how collaborative everything is within the bridging finance section of the bank, both between the department heads and their team members, and among each of the divisions.

“When you're in sales, sometimes you can have a difference of opinion internally, because you want an underwriter to say yes to your deal and vice versa. But the great thing about the culture Sundeep has created is that, if I have a concern, I can talk to Becky and Helen directly and we generally get it resolved quite quickly. It makes the job a lot easier and more enjoyable,” Paula states.

Becky adds that the friendly relationship between the department heads also sets an example for the rest of the members to encourage collaboration at all levels: “For them to see a united senior management team that wants to work with them gives them a lot of comfort.”

The secret to such smooth collaboration is simple: mutual respect and communication. “Clear dialogue between yourself and your team is essential, as is getting to know your people, and having a clear understanding of their abilities and how you enhance them to support development,” says Tayo.

Paula adds that it is equally important as a team leader to recognise that each member will require a different managerial style. “In 12 years, I’ve never managed two people in the same way ever; they’ve always wanted different things from me and vice versa. As a manager, you have to be quite adaptable and willing to reflect on yourself as well—that goes a long way,” she elaborates.

Ready for an upturn With the new bridging finance teams set up, UTB has been making strides to propel business even further—and successfully so, as Sundeep tells me the bank is already ahead of its set targets for this year. Its split between regulated and unregulated bridging has changed from 80:20 to 70:30 as desired, but not to the detriment of the regulated business, as both sides have grown significantly despite the market challenges.

The division has no intentions to rest on its laurels though. Ahead of 2024, it is planning a series of training for all,

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including the senior level, to ensure everyone has the necessary additional skills to handle the increased level of business the bank aims for. Sundeep also discloses the lender wants to further improve automation to make the lending process slicker and more user-friendly for brokers. “We will be a lender that’s going to be here for the long term. When the time comes and the market picks up, we need to be ready to support it. I believe 2024 will be a challenging year but, like most things, economic cycles turn, and we just want to be in the best position possible to support the market when that happens,” concludes Sundeep.

One discussion I’m having is about that early engagement with the customer. If a condition is set for the ninth month of a 12-month loan, there isn’t anything that stops us from engaging with that customer in the first six months to ensure everything is progressing as it is intended to”

Nov/Dec 2023

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One Day

Celebrating a blooming business In summer last year, Spring Finance rolled out its bridging proposition to the wider market, which saw significant demand and glowing reviews from many brokers in the industry. One year later, in the heart of central London, the lender welcomed some of its closest finance partners to celebrate the success of the bridging business— and teased out its next big steps Words by ANDREEA DULGHERU Photography by ALEXANDER CHAI

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One Day

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One Day

As Beth and I walked into the private dining area of Balthazar, the first thing we noticed was the warm atmosphere—not the one brought on by the heaters (although it was definitely a welcome escape from the cold weather outside), but by the friendly greetings of the Spring team.

It is clear that for the lender, this is not just a regular business event, but rather similar to a friends and family get-together—after all, one of the key things Spring prides itself on is its relationships with its finance partners.

“It’s really important to us at Spring that you are friends, as well as colleagues,” says Jim Baker, the lender’s sales director for bridging.

“We want to create outstanding outcomes for clients all the way through, and that happens when everybody is working together closely to reach the end goal.”

To solidify this collaboration between Spring and its brokers, lawyers and other finance partners, Jim reiterated the importance of open and candid feedback the lender wishes to get on its service. “As a growing business, the input from you is key. We want to be guided by you to be the lender that you absolutely love,” said Jim, addressing all attendees in the room.

It is thanks to these tight relationships, as well as the decades of expertise the Spring team brings to the table, that the lender’s bridging proposition has had significant success in its first year of launch—as the firm’s CEO Andrew Bloom confirmed in his speech that Spring is well on its way to hit its target of £100m of bridging loans completed to date. “The company has already tripled its lending levels, but this is very much the tip of the iceberg,” said Andrew.

The big ambitions for the business include the launch of its regulated and unregulated development finance proposition, which Spring is already trialling with some select brokers—this will also include options for self-build projects. The business will also venture into the first-charge residential mortgage and BTL sectors with new product ranges, which will follow its current second-charge lending criteria. Andrew also confirmed Spring’s intentions to expand into Scotland—to the joy of the Scottish brokers in the room—to provide specialist loans on an area basis, rather than the traditional postcode route. In addition, the lender is currently in the process of securing its fourth institutional funding line. All of these are part of Spring’s ultimate aspiration: to become an incredibly sizeable and reputable non-bank lender. “We unashamedly have big ambitions, and we hope that you’re all part of this journey with us—and we can guarantee you that you’ll get our personal and individual attention,” stated Andrew.

Bridging & Commercial

“It was an honour to be invited to celebrate a year since Spring Finance launched, and it’s all very exciting and fabulous to see a new lender progressing so well in a tough market” STEPHEN BURNS, operations director at AFIG

“It’s a pleasure to work with such an open-minded lender. There is nothing hidden with Spring Finance, its open and transparent and it does what it says it will, which is refreshing. From initial enquiry to completion, it’s a very smooth journey for us as a broker and our clients, and this is testament to the Andrew and the team” SONNY GOSAI, senior sales and development manager at Norton Finance

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One Day

“It has been a pleasure working with Spring Finance to date and being a part of its journey into the bridging market. The firm’s proactive and commercial stance allows matters to progress with ease and a quick response to any enquiry is always readily available. Its experienced team of underwriters take a hands-on approach and facilitate successful outcomes for all involved. I have no doubt that Spring Finance will continue to go from strength to strength” DAVID EDER, legal director at Harold Benjamin

“It’s refreshing to work with Spring Finance, as it has an extremely experienced team that understand the true nature of bridging and don’t make it complicated.

The firm is happy to consider unusual and complex cases, and we we’re excited about its plans over the next 12 months and to do more business with the team and watch our partnership grow” LAURA TOKE, bridging relationship director for shortterm finance at SPF Private Clients

“What sets Spring Finance apart is its extensive experience, coupled with a remarkable ability to think outside conventional ‘box ticking’. The firm’s proficiency in handling deal intricacies is noteworthy, and the team offers valuable insights into the risks associated with specific transactions. This has proven to be immensely helpful in making informed decisions. As we move forward, our intention is not only to maintain, but also to foster and expand our relationship with Spring Finance, and we anticipate continued growth and success as we navigate the dynamic landscape of financial transactions together” MANOJ CHITRODA, commercial director at FinSpace Group

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Limelight

Highlights from The FP Show 2023 On 10th November, specialist finance experts flocked to London Olympia for The FP Show 2023 to build new relationships with lenders and brokers. Surrounded by colourful, creative stands, showcasing lenders’ latest finance products and services—together with some ingenious merch, food and beverages to sweeten the deal—the place was buzzing with activity from morning to evening. Over the course of the day in the conference theatre, Knowledge Bank’s founder and CEO Nicola Firth chaired Live Criteria Clinics, during which several industry experts shared their views on a variety of pressing topics and placed deals submitted on the spot by attendees. We share the key things learned during the bridging, development and commercial finance panels

Photography by

ALEXANDER CHAI

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Limelight

BRIDGING FINANCE SESSION PANELLISTS: • Sundeep Patel, director of bridging at United Trust Bank • Richard Deacon, managing director of sales at Octane Capital • Jack Coombs, director at Aspen Bridging • Tanya Elmaz, director of intermediary sales at Together • Marcus Dussard, sales director at KSEYE • Angela Norman, director for lending strategy and propositions at Recognise Bank KEY LESSONS LEARNED: During the discussion, the panellists agreed that having integrity and offering flexibility, speed, quality service and certainty of funds are all effective ways of remaining competitive.

Sundeep suggested that being trustworthy is equally as important: “The trust in the lender and their reputation is a valuable thing now,” he said.

Richard added that strong sector relationships are crucial to a lender's success.

He highlighted the undisputed importance of brokers, saying it is the intermediaries’ confidence in the lender that makes them stand out from the rest of the market.

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Limelight

COMMERCIAL FINANCE SESSION

DEVELOPMENT FINANCE SESSION

Panellists:

PANELLISTS:

• Mike Davies, head of commercial mortgages at YBS Commercial Mortgages • Marc Callaghan, head of specialist finance and HNW at OSB Group • Stephen Spinks, head of sales at Allica Bank • John O’Donovan, partner and head of banking and finance at Harold Benjamin

KEY LESSONS LEARNED: Mike claimed that the retail sector isn’t dead, but will likely see a transformation in the near future.

“I don’t think there’s a tipping point, but there’s change and a definite shift from city centres and larger retail units,” he said.

Marc questioned whether large retail shops could be divided down into smaller units, while Stephen Spinks also expressed that he would be cautious of “large-scale major shopping centres”, going on to say that most valuers would also approach them with care.

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• Chris Gardner, joint CEO at Atelier • Guy Murray, head of development finance at West One Loans • Ashley Ilsen, CEO and co-founder at Magnet Capital • Claudine Reynolds, BDM at Roma Finance • Uliana Kuzmis, deputy managing director of development finance at HTB • Parik Chandra, partner at Downing Property Finance KEY LESSONS LEARNED: Chris stated that, despite the potential that modular housebuilding brings, traditional building methods will continue to be the main contributor to the UK housing sector over the next five to 10 years. However, Chris said he expects modular housebuilding to gain more traction in the future.

Parik also noted that while the UK could be doing more in terms of modular housing, funding these types of schemes is fairly difficult.

Nov/Dec 2023

Limelight

CHAMPAGNE RECEPTION After a busy day—filled with lively chatter, deals arranged left and right and informative panel discussions—guests, exhibitors and sponsors were invited to quench their thirst with a glass of bubbly at the Champagne Reception, kindly sponsored

by Allica Bank and Downing Property Finance.

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Backstory

Lee Francis

‘Planning policy still leaves a lot to be desired’

Following his promotion to head of origination at CapitalRise, Lee Francis shares with B&C Magazine the business’ ambitious plans for 2024, highlights the latest trends in the prime central London property sector seen this year, and weighs in on what the future might hold for this market Lee has been working in the finance sector for 25 years, during which he held roles at various UK lenders—including HSBC, Bank of Scotland, Clydesdale and Santander—within the corporate and structured finance, and commercial real estate markets. He joined CapitalRise in August 2021 as a lending director and has since helped the business expand over the past two years. As head of origination, he is primarily tasked with leading the firm’s next growth phase and heading a team of seven to originate new deals.

Q

What has been your biggest achievement to date?

Being named as one of the top performers of the CapitalRise team in both years I have been with the firm, which has been recognised by my recent promotion to head of origination. I work incredibly hard to support our borrowers, broker partners, and the wider CapitalRise team. I am delighted with the results seen over the past two years, particularly as they were achieved against the backdrop of wider uncertainty in the development finance market.

Q

What are CapitalRise’s lending targets for the near future?

As part of our longer-term plan, we are looking to expand our loan book and triple our assets under management over the next three to five years. It might seem like an ambitious target, but the strong growth trajectory that CapitalRise has maintained since its foundation seven years ago suggests that this is more than achievable, with particular thanks to our strong sector expertise, robust approach to lending, and significant capital resources to deploy, with further funding lines in the pipeline.

Q

hat has been the biggest W development finance trend you’ve seen in the prime central London property sector in 2023?

Airspace or ‘rooftop’ schemes are a fast-growing type of prime property development in London this year. We have seen interest in these projects explode in 2023, and CapitalRise currently has its strongest-ever pipeline of airspace development projects as a result. To give just one example, we recently funded the acquisition and development of four penthouse apartments in Chelsea, and the results are looking stunning.

Q

ow have developers’ exit H strategies been affected due to the recent market difficulties?

Developers are facing longer sales periods, exacerbated by the removal of the government’s Help to Buy scheme, higher interest rates and lower

Bridging & Commercial

mortgage affordability. Due to this, they are seeing higher holding costs, and thus additional pressures on profitability.

Increasingly, our borrowers look to exit via bridging loans to extract profit early or extend a sales period, either with us or other lenders. As we assess all sites extensively as part of our initial due diligence and build in contingencies, we ensure the borrowers are not over-leveraged and are able to refinance successfully. However, as bank rates begin to stabilise and mortgage costs are starting to come down, this will help improve the picture. Plus, activity in the prime property market has always been dominated by cash buyers, which does naturally reduce the sales risks of projects in this space.

Q

hat is the biggest issue W affecting the property development market, and how can this be solved?

Planning policy still leaves a lot to be desired.

Obtaining planning permission is often incredibly hard, primarily due to local authority planning teams being under-resourced. Central government ought to allocate greater funds to hire more planners and get Britain building again, and it was encouraging to see the chancellor announce more support for this in the recent Autumn Statement.

X How did you spend your very first pay cheque?

Embarrassingly, it was a pair of Gucci loafers and a monthly train ticket, before spending the next three weeks stretching what I had left! Thankfully I have learnt a fair bit about budgeting and shoe choices since.

X Your dream job—if you weren’t doing this, what would you do?

I would love to run a diving school in Koh Tao, Thailand. The name translates to ‘turtle island’ and it’s an incredible place, with stunning scenery, amazing food, and lovely people.

Q

ow do you expect the property H development market to fare in 2024?

The consecutive rises in the base rate has made it economically impractical for owners of development sites to retain these assets indefinitely. This presents a number of opportunities for well-versed developers to either acquire these sites, or explore joint ventures with the existing owners to bring these schemes forward. Another key feature of the prime market specifically is the strong demand from overseas buyers, which in turn drives the demand for development finance.

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X What is your favourite holiday spot you visited to date?

French Polynesia is definitely up there, with picture postcard views, crystal clear water, and amazing marine life. I also love island hopping through Thailand, and family holidays in Dubai.