Bridging & Commercial Magazine — The Power List 2025

ISSUE 37 JAN/FEB 2025

Masthaven

is back!

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Bridging – FCA Regulated Bridging - Specialist Bridging - Home Renovation

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Development Finance Developer Exit – Light Development – Professional Development – Self Build Development

Jim Baker

Claire Newman

Ginny Warby

Amy Robinson

Sales Director Bridging & Development

Director Bridging and Development

Senior Business Development Manager

Business Development Manager

07870 842 613

07539 347 328

07939 580 401

07494 106 761

jim.baker@masthaven.co.uk

claire.newman@masthaven.co.uk

ginny.warby@masthaven.co.uk

amy.robinson@masthaven.co.uk

For Intermediaries Only Masthaven Finance, 3 Theobald Court, Theobald Street, Borehamwood, WD6 4RN. Masthaven Finance is a trading name of Masthaven Finance Group Ltd (14088677), Masthaven Finance Ltd (03709012), SF11 Ltd (07731478), SF13 Ltd (08273729), SF22 Ltd (14588596), SF24 Ltd (15589627) , and Masthaven Finance M1 Ltd (14111987) all of which are registered in England and whose registered office is 3 Theobald Court, Theobald Street, Borehamwood WD6 4RN. Masthaven Finance Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Firm reference number 300606.

ISSUE 37 JAN/FEB 2025

POWER

2025 LIST + Buying back Masthaven p28

Why make things more difficult than they need to be.

Why make bridging difficult.

Talk to Somo today.

somo.co.uk 0161 312 56 56

Bridging Finance

We go further so you can too

The partnership that takes you further United Trust Bank are relationship-builders.

We believe the most effective relationships are the ones with the most trust, familiarity and longevity – those are the relationships we build.

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United, we go further

Acknowledgments Editor-in-chief Beth Fisher Magazine manager Dhuha Al-Zaidi Creative direction Beth Fisher Dhuha Al-Zaidi Sub editor Christy Lawrance Contributors Kyle Terrell, Hiten Ganatra, Matthew Yassin, Narinder Gill, Soner Yilmaz, Alex Edwards, Gareth Taylor, Martyn Smith, John Eastgate, Daniel Kennedy, Piotr Twaits, Simon Juniper Photography Alexander Chai Sales and marketing Beth Fisher beth@medianett.co.uk Special thanks Jade Buckfield, Prospect Capital Abby Butler, Masthaven Christy Lawrance, CLComms Damien Fletcher, Offa Hayley Stansfield, Source MC Laura Gibson, Aprirose Paul Hunt / Crofton Bonney / Victoria Hartley, Square1 Media 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 @medianettpublishing

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

W

elcome to the Power List 2025 issue, where the spotlight is on the game-changers shaping the future of specialist property finance. Now that we’ve finally made it through (what always feels like the longest month of the year) January, it’s time to celebrate the groundbreaking deals of 2024 and the exceptional individuals who made them happen. This issue is packed with inspiring stories that not only highlight how the industry is evolving, but also how it's embracing the big ideas that are driving it forward.

Our Power List 2025 cover story is the beating heart of this issue, packed with the most jaw-dropping lending deals from the past year [p46]. These transactions didn’t just break the mould—they obliterated it. Whether it is a sub-£200,000 second-charge bridge backing a freelance photographer’s life-changing Waitrose contract or a £10m mezzanine loan fuelling the transformation of one of Europe’s biggest logistics hubs, each deal has its own tale of triumph and intrigue and are all worthy of making the list.

We also delve into some truly fascinating stories of individuals making waves in the industry. Take Andrew Bloom, who built and sold Masthaven, only to buy it back for a fraction of the price. His journey from fledgling entrepreneur to industry powerhouse is a masterclass in resilience and strategy. He shares the behind-the-scenes details of Masthaven 2.0, the powerhouse team driving its revival, and the invaluable advice he received from Richard Branson along the way [p28].

Meanwhile, StreamBank, a newcomer with an ambitious agenda, is setting its sights on half-a-billionpounds in lending, despite only securing its banking licence in 2023. We take you inside its sleek new Cardiff headquarters to uncover how this up-and-coming player plans to shake up the sector and hit its lofty targets [p94].

In Islamic finance, Offa made a bold move by acquiring the Alburaq home finance portfolio from the Bank of Ireland. This acquisition is just one step in Offa’s mission to reshape perceptions of Islamic finance.

We sit down with Offa’s key leaders to discuss how its small but mighty team is making big strides [p108].

The challenger banks are also turning tradition on its head. With digital processes and hybrid working models firmly here to stay, challenger banks are reimagining how underwriters interact with clients, bringing them once again into the spotlight and offering more customer-centric approaches to fuel growth and build stronger connections with distributors [p70].

On a more reflective note, we also hear from Martyn Smith, a true pioneer in the bridging sector, who looks back on his 45 years in the business and shares insights on how the market has transformed—and where he believes it’s headed in the next decade [p100].

In this issue, we hope you're not just inspired by the incredible feats of those in the spotlight but also by the vast opportunities that lie ahead for the specialist finance sector. The potential for overseas investment in the UK is growing, with the government’s proactive steps to attract foreign capital, including injecting billions of pounds into The National Wealth Fund. Meanwhile, the UK’s inflationary pressures have started to stabilise and the Bank of England has reduced base rates to 4.5%, creating a more favourable lending environment. The landscape is ripe for investment and, with the right strategies, it’s an exciting time to be part of this evolving industry.

Beth Fisher

5

Jan/Feb 2025

“Sometimes, the best way forward is to return to where it all began—and make it even better”p28

10 18 20 28 42 46 70 72 90 94 100 108 126 128

The Cut Products News Exclusive Explained Cover Story Zeitgeist Interview View One Day Feature In Conversation Limelight Backstory The blueprint for a successful SME

The lenders with the latest rate reductions

A founder’s dream, a company’s legacy / Eliminating rogue builders

Built it, sold it, and bought it back

Avoiding disputes in BTL loan recovery

Awarding the standout deals of 2024

Bringing back onsite underwriters

Gareth Taylor / Anastasia Ttofis

Why financial education at school could help lenders and brokers

Building a banking empire in Cardiff

‘We’ve come a long way since 1979’ / Why professional landlords are turning to specialist lenders Paving the way for Islamic finance in the UK

The top calendar invites for brokers in 2025

Simon Juniper

At Atelier, we are committed to providing competitive development finance solutions that are structured to deliver, including better Day One funding to get your project moving faster.

Whether your development is residential, student accommodation or care, we can help. Loans are available from £5m to £40m and are custom-built to match your ambitions.

Work with people as committed to your vision as you are, and discover better property finance, by design at atelierfinance.co.uk or call us on: 020 7846 0000

Atelier Capital Partners Limited is supervised for anti-money laundering purposes by the Financial Conduct Authority, under reference number 910090. Incorporated in England and Wales with registered number 11888767. Our registered office is 3-5 Rathbone Place, London W1T 1HJ.

Secure your table at the

B C Awards 2O25 5th June

please contact beth fisher at beth@medianett.co.uk or megan goncalves at megan@medianett.co.uk for more information

THE CUT

The Cut

What’s ahead for SMEs in 2025?

In an economic landscape defined by rising costs, shifting government policies, and evolving market opportunities, financial prudence has never been more critical for SMEs. We explore the key strategies businesses are adopting to navigate 2025 successfully and profitably, from securing smarter financing and reducing fixed costs to identifying high-growth investment regions. Here, industry experts provide insights into the financial tools and partnerships helping SMEs strengthen their position, as well as the operational adjustments necessary to remain competitive

11

Jan/Feb 2025

The Cut

Hiten Ganatra Managing director at Mortimer Street Capital Rather than increasing income, seeking to increase profitability should be a core focus, as the old adage ‘revenue is vanity, profit is sanity’ is as true today as it has ever been. Also, releasing equity to raise funds for business expansion may be viable if the SME owns property and this may be more feasible and cost-effective than unsecured lending, for example.

Reviewing finance arrangements on a regular basis is good practice and having a broker help with such a review is important, as there are always new and innovative options being provided by lenders that can save money and provide greater flexibility for SMEs.

A good example of this is the largest deal we have done since we launched last year: the client—a landlord, developer, and construction business owner—was seeking terms for a portfolio of commercial investments across several legal entities. They held a facility with a UK clearing bank and were unable to renegotiate favourable terms, so they approached MSC to investigate other options. The £27.5m loan was completed 11 weeks after the legals were instructed.

Matthew Yassin Managing director at Aquilae Capital Advisory For small residential developers in the UK, several key practices could help increase business income in 2025, with a focus on managing equity constraints. Strategic partnerships will be crucial, including joint ventures with equity-rich partners or landowners willing to participate in profit shares. This reduces upfront land costs while maintaining development potential.

Some developers may explore forward-funding arrangements with private investors or family offices to strengthen their capital base. Project structuring needs careful attention, with phased developments reducing peak funding requirements. Early engagement with buyers for off-plan sales can improve cash flow, while some developers may consider smaller schemes requiring less equity commitment. Additional revenue streams become important, such as offering development management services to landowners or other developers—this generates fee income without significant equity demands. Where feasible, securing planning gain on land before bringing in development partners can maximise returns on limited equity.

Careful cost control and robust credit management remain essential to protect working capital.

Bridging & Commercial

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The Cut

WHAT PRACTICES SHOULD SMES IMPLEMENT TO INCREASE BUSINESS INCOME? Narinder Gill Associate at Coreco Commercial Finance SMEs need to instil financial prudence if not already within the business to help grow and maintain a financially healthy 2025. We expect those who excel this year to optimise costs and leverage technology, investing in AI-focused software to help them streamline their administrative tasks and operations.

Diversifying revenue streams is important in either expanding or increasing products and services to customers.

SMEs need to lessen exposure to singular and concentrated revenue streams with shifts in demand, economic turbulence, and geopolitical pressures.

13

Jan/Feb 2025

The Cut

SOME 24% OF SMALL UK BUSINESSES AIM TO PRIORITISE REDUCING FIXED COSTS IN 2025.

WHAT AREAS DO YOU ANTICIPATE WILL BE IMPACTED?

Narinder Gill Associate at Coreco Commercial Finance Small businesses will look to cut fixed costs in a number of ways in 2025. I expect fixed overheads such as rent and finance costs to be at the forefront of this, with rent negotiations upon downsizing or taking up more cost-effective working premises.

I also predict businesses to review lending costs, including both asset finance and commercial term debt. We have seen borrowers seek to capitalise on perceived downward pressure to the Bank of England base rate and seek tracker facilities. Small businesses will look for more energy-efficient office spaces and seek to transition into part hybrid or full hybrid vehicle fleets. I believe the insurance market will also feel pressure from SMEs wanting to reduce the insurance costs within their businesses.

Bridging & Commercial

14

The Cut

Hiten Ganatra Managing director at Mortimer Street Capital We are seeing SMEs think hard about staffing, which has been exasperated by the recent NI increase by the government. I fear that growth in terms of creating more jobs is unlikely, unless we see a rethink from chancellor Reeves.

In turn, this affects industries that operate at low margins and so, once again, the hospitality industry will unfortunately bear the brunt of the NI increase.

Matthew Yassin Managing director at Aquilae Capital Advisory For small residential development companies in the UK, several key areas will likely be impacted by cost-reduction efforts in 2025.

Office costs will see the continuation of shifts to hybrid working and digital processes to reduce space and administrative expenses. In construction, companies will likely try to optimise project schedules, reduce equipment rental periods, and further press on purchasing agreements for materials and labour.

Professional services will be a key focus, with companies reviewing and renegotiating arrangements with architects, quantity surveyors, and planning consultants. Many will also look to streamline their planning application processes to reduce associated costs.

Energy costs will be targeted through efficient systems and smart monitoring in both offices and on sites. Companies will also likely review and renegotiate insurance policies to achieve better rates, particularly for site insurance and professional indemnity cover.

These changes aim to maintain competitiveness while adapting to market pressures.

15

Jan/Feb 2025

The Cut

Narinder Gill Associate at Coreco Commercial Finance Many hotspots in the UK will feel an increase in uptake in investment and occupation by SMEs. I expect the High Speed 1 and High Speed 2 line to nurture this with regional spots such as Birmingham (West Midlands), Manchester, Leeds, and Oxford hosting new businesses and those looking for expansion.

Matthew Yassin Managing director at Aquilae Capital Advisory In terms of UK development hotspots for 2025, small residential and commercial developers are likely to focus on areas balancing opportunity with lower capital requirements.

Regional cities like Birmingham and outer Manchester remain attractive, offering stronger yields and lower entry costs than London while benefiting from infrastructure improvements and strong local economies. The West Midlands particularly benefits from HS2-related growth, despite project adjustments. Secondary South East locations are gaining attention, especially those with improved transport links but where land values haven't fully recovered post-Covid. This includes towns along the Elizabeth Line and key transport nodes where small developers can still compete effectively.

Growing market towns with strong local employment and supportive planning frameworks are increasingly popular, offering less competition from larger developers and better-aligned risk-reward profiles for equity-constrained smaller players. The focus is firmly on locations where land costs and development risk match current funding constraints while maintaining viable returns.

Bridging & Commercial

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The Cut

WHICH HOTSPOT REGIONS DO YOU FORESEE SMALL BUSINESSES INVESTING IN THIS YEAR, AND WHY?

Hiten Ganatra Managing director at Mortimer Street Capital Personally, I think there are opportunities across the UK—although some of the headwinds unnecessarily caused by the new government may make SMEs think twice about increased investment and/or headcount. Despite these challenges, UK SMEs have shown themselves to be extraordinarily resilient over the past few years and I have no doubt that they will continue to be so.

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Jan/Feb 2025

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Jan/Feb 2025

News

A

L E GA C Y

OF OUR L E NDI NG ON A CRUSADE TO BECOMING A LEADING NAME IN BRIDGING AND DEVELOPMENT FINANCE, A BOUTIQUE LENDER SHARES ITS TACTICAL JOURNEY TO ACHIEVING THIS AMBITION IN MEMORY OF ITS LATE FOUNDER Words by

KYLE TYRRELL non-executive director at District and County Investments

Bridging & Commercial

20

News

LIFE OF A LEGEND In 2018, Alan Keating, already a successful entrepreneur in the insurance sector, faced a life-altering terminal diagnosis. With this profound challenge, Alan found clarity in his purpose: to create something enduring for his family beyond the confines of insurance. Alan had spent decades building an extraordinary legacy in the insurance industry, growing a business his father had founded into a company that insured hundreds of thousands of customers excluded from the mainstream market. Employing more than 1,000 people in his home county of Merseyside, Alan’s influence was far-reaching.

But Alan’s passion for property development had always been quietly persistent. Over the years, he had dabbled in property finance through his insurance company’s investment fund. This experience fuelled his belief in a better way—one rooted in simplicity, transparency and partnership.

With this conviction and an unshakable sense of purpose, Alan founded DCI, based in Formby, driven by a mission to bring humanity and clarity to short-term property lending.

Alan passed away in 2022 after an incredible fight, but his vision and values endure, guiding our every decision and inspiring our team to honour his legacy. For DCI, this concept is not measured in years but in impact—on borrowers, end customers, introducers and the communities we help build.

I

n the fast-paced world of short-term property finance, where margins rule and speed is king, the word legacy might seem out of place. It’s a concept more often associated with businesses that have weathered decades of market cycles, not one born just six years ago. Yet, at District and County Investments (DCI), this is not only relevant—it’s foundational. Our story began with a man whose vision and values continue to shape our every decision.

ACTION, NOT WORDS Many businesses struggle to articulate their “why”, operating solely to meet financial goals. But for DCI, our why was baked into the foundations Alan laid. His vision was never just about numbers; it was about mitigating real problems and fostering meaningful relationships.

From day one, DCI has set itself apart by prioritising simplicity, transparency and partnership. But talk is easy—what matters is action. Legacy, after all, is earned by things done.

Since Alan’s passing, we’ve doubled down on his founding principles while laying the groundwork for future success. Today, DCI manages a £65m loan book, with funding commitments to scale to £100m in the next year. This didn’t happen by chance—it’s the result of a deliberate effort to secure additional equity, enhance operational efficiency and recruit the right talent to drive the next phase of our journey.

Alan Keating

21

Jan/Feb 2025

News

Our growth isn’t limited to numbers. Over the past two years, we’ve expanded our team, refined our processes and even undertaken our own developments to better understand our clients’ challenges. This first-hand experience has given us unique insights, enabling us to tailor our support and solutions more effectively.

GROWTH BEYOND THE CORE While development finance remains our core, we recognise the need for balance. Development loans can be complex, requiring intense collaboration and oversight. To diversify and serve a broader market, we’ve steadily grown our bridging portfolio, and we’re ready to do more.

We’re also taking active steps to improve the borrower experience.

From introducing a dedicated borrower legal team to ensure our clients’ priorities are met to exploring new premises that support our growing team, we’re preparing for the future with purpose and intention.

HOLDING OURSELVES TO ACCOUNT Our vision for the future goes beyond growth. It’s about impact. It’s about asking tough questions: are we staying true to Alan’s principles?

Are we making a meaningful difference for our borrowers, partners and communities? And, most importantly, are we building a legacy we can be proud of?

Alan’s story reminds us that this isn’t about age or longevity—it’s about purpose. It’s about finding your why and committing to it relentlessly. For DCI, that why was set in stone the day Alan Keating decided to turn his vision into reality.

We believe every business, no matter how young or established, has a responsibility to think about its future. Are you building something that will last? Are your values reflected in your actions?

These aren’t easy questions, but they’re worth asking. Your legacy isn’t just what you leave behind; it’s created by the impact. At DCI, we’re proud to carry Alan’s story forward, and we invite others in the industry to join us in building something that matters.

“We believe every business, no matter how young or established, has a responsibility to think about its future” Bridging & Commercial

So, what will your legacy be?

22

From New Year’s resolutions to reality Backing ambitious property investors in 2025

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Chasing out the cowboys Words by

SONER YILMAZ Founder of Cavass

Photography by

ALEXANDER CHAI

Dishonest builders cause delays and failures in residential projects, hitting both homeowners and lenders in the pocket. Cavass was set up to stamp out rogue practices through agreements that provide clarity on cost and progress on individual schemes

Soner Yilmaz

T

he construction industry, bot h com merc ia l a nd domestic, remains largely u nreg ulated. Wh ile c om me rc i a l proje c t s are often governed by professional oversight and contracts, domestic builds frequently rely on informal arrangements, leaving homeowners vulnerable to financial mismanagement, delays and rogue contractors. These risks often extend to lenders, whose investments are tied to the completion and value of these projects.

The unregulated nature of the industry has created systemic vulnerabilities, where homeowners and lenders alike can face significant losses if projects are delayed, abandoned or mismanaged. Addressing these problems requires tools and practices that ensure accountability, transparency and responsible allocation of funds.

DEVASTATING CONSEQUENCES The impetus for Cavass came from real-life experiences. Two unrelated families, coincidentally in similar circumstances, revealed how they had been scammed by rogue builders on the same day. One family’s project was abandoned mid-construction, while the others were neglected after just a few weeks.

Together, they lost over £48,000 in cash, highlighting the devastating consequences of the industry’s lack of safeguarding. These cases underscored a need for systematic change to protect homeowners and lenders.

Cavass emerged as a response to this gap, introducing processes designed to reduce vulnerabilities through structured agreements, financial oversight and better management of building projects.

Bridging & Commercial

News

DELAYS, DISPUTES, DEVALUED

Risks faced by homeowners in domestic construction projects often develop into genuine problems for lenders. Delays, abandoned projects or disputes over payments can devalue the property on which the loan is secured, leaving lenders exposed to potential financial losses.

Introducing greater structure and accountability into domestic projects can mitigate these risks. Agreements establish clear expectations regarding costs, deliverables and timelines, providing a solid foundation for managing projects. Milestone-based payment systems tied to verified progress reduce the risk of funds being misused. Financial monitoring ensures allocated funds are used responsibly throughout the project lifecycle.

By applying practices more commonly associated with commercial projects, the domestic market benefits from improved transparency and oversight, protecting both the homeowner’s investment and the lender’s collateral.

BRIDGING THE REGULATION GAP Facing up to these problems is not just about solving them—it’s about creating lasting change for homeowners and lenders alike.

The lack of regulation in the construction industry creates significant difficulties for homeowners and lenders alike. Failed or poorly executed construction projects not only drain financial resources but also demand substantial time to resolve. Incomplete or substandard builds often result in properties that are difficult to sell, appeal only to cash buyers and achieve prices far below market value.

For lenders, extended resolution compounds losses. Repossessing and preparing such properties for resale involves legal complexities, clean-up costs and ongoing delays, all of which reduce the net value of the loan recovery.

Borrowers also face similar hurdles and often lack the resources to address failed projects, leading to stagnation and disputes.

Proactive measures can reduce these risks and streamline project management. Structured agreements that detail costs, timelines and deliverables provide clarity and prevent disputes. Milestonebased payment systems tied to verified 26

progress ensure accountability, while financial monitoring reassures everyone that funds are being used effectively.

These tools address common vulnerabilities in the industry, fostering transparency and accountability. By reducing delays and creating a structured framework, they save time, minimise losses and help both lenders and homeowners avoid prolonged financial strain.

Building trust and accountability requires a collective effort to adopt practices that prioritise transparency and responsibility.

HOW LENDERS CAN ADOPT THIS For lenders, taking active steps to protect their investments fosters stronger relationships with borrowers. Encouraging the use of agreements and oversight mechanisms in building projects demonstrates a commitment to responsible lending and long-term asset protection. Homeowners can then benefit from greater security and confidence in their projects.

The construction industry’s systemic issues require concerted efforts to drive change. Introducing tools and practices that prioritise transparency and accountability is a step toward creating a safer and fairer environment for all parties involved.

Addressing these challenges is not about achieving perfection but reducing risks and achieving better outcomes. By facing these issues directly, stakeholders in the industry can work toward lasting improvements that protect investments, support success in projects and minimise avoidable losses.

“FACING UP TO THESE PROBLEMS IS NOT JUST ABOUT SOLVING THEM—IT’S ABOUT CREATING LASTING CHANGE FOR HOMEOWNERS AND LENDERS ALIKE”

BUYING BACK MASTHAVEN Exclusive

He built it, sold it, and bought it back. Andrew Bloom’s story is every entrepreneurs dream—­ seizing the opportunity to reclaim the brand he spent over 15 years crafting for a fraction of what he sold it for.

He reveals the inside story of Masthaven 2.0, the powerhouse team driving its revival, the game-changing advice he received from Richard Branson, and why business plans rarely go according to plan

Words by

DHUHA AL-ZAIDI Photography by

ALEXANDER CHAI

Bridging & Commercial

28

Andrew Bloom

Exclusive

“When I sold Masthaven, I thought I was going to be very businesslike and unemotional about it. But, to my surprise, I found it extremely difficult...especially when I was watching from the sidelines while someone else was captaining the ship and I so strongly disagreed with many of the decisions that were being made”

I

t’s 2005, and 29-year-old Andrew Bloom is grinding away in a cramped office across from the Bank of England on Lombard Street, building his bootstrapped startup. With just two staff members, he laid the foundation for Masthaven—a brand that would eventually be worth nine figures—funded entirely from his own pocket.

Andrew knows that growing a company takes more than just skill— it takes relentless dedication. “The vast majority of people who run their own business put in a lot of hard work and a great number of hours, and that doesn’t stop when you leave the office—even if you leave at 10pm,” says Andrew.

In 2007, the hard work got even harder.

As with many, the financial crisis brought new challenges to Andrew’s bufsiness, but it also taught him some invaluable lessons.

“I personally lost enough money to bring a tear to most people's eyes but, to this day, I am exceptionally proud that no investor or bank funding line lost a penny. Not many companies during the global financial crisis

Bridging & Commercial

30

can honestly make this claim. I learned more in these three years than any other time in my career,” he shares.

In 2011, Andrew saw Masthaven in an “incredibly strong” position compared to its competitors and recognised the opportunity to capitalise on improving economic conditions. He sold a 40% stake to British billionaire Mark Pears, injecting significant capital into the business to fuel expansion.

As Andrew puts it: “Even if you're very hard-working with a talented management team, it's much easier to be successful with the wind behind you than trying to sail into a storm.”

In the years that followed, Andrew’s achievements spoke for themselves—from earning a spot on the Sunday Times Fast Track 100 at number 81 to winning multiple industry awards.

Then, after a two-year application process, the business was granted a banking licence in 2016. Over the next couple of years, Masthaven Bank had lent well in excess of £1bn.

Reflecting on the evolution of the company, Andrew says: “It's a challenge to launch any kind of business, let alone a retail bank.”

Despite Masthaven’s growing success, Andrew and the brand ended up taking separate paths. Fifteen years after launching the company, he sold his controlling stake to American PE firm Värde Partners. Exactly one year later, he stepped down as CEO.

TRAVELLING TRUSTEE Andrew then went on a hiatus and extensively travelled both domestically and internationally. He became a trustee of charity Spread a Smile, whose aim is to make critically ill children smile. “Having a child who's unfortunately spent time at Great Ormond Street , it really is wonderful when you go into the hospitals and see not just the child smile but also the joy this gives the parents.

It's a charity I care a lot about.”

During this time, Andrew became a serial angel investor, focusing on the banking, fintech, and lending sectors, taking on roles as non-executive director or chairman at several companies. Then, a unique opportunity emerged to acquire second-charge lender Spring Finance—albeit under difficult circumstances.

“Spring Finance has a very sad event in its history. Its founder, Stuart Epstein, passed away in his mid-40s unexpectedly. One day, one of Spring’s non-executive directors, Martin Chesler, phoned me and asked, ‘Do you want to buy Spring Finance?’

Exclusive

“I enjoyed doing the non-executive roles, but I decided I was too young to sit in the corner of a boardroom giving advice to other people. So, I bought Spring with the idea to create a very sizeable non-bank lender,” Andrew explains. Soon after, former Masthaven employees—including Jim Baker, sales director of bridging and development finance; Claire Newman, director of bridging and development finance; and Shelley Stern, director of mortgages—joined the team.

Spring quickly expanded into the bridging and development finance markets, while also adding a first-charge mortgage product to its proposition.

MISSING MASTHAVEN Over the years, Andrew struggled not to keep tabs on his former business. “When I sold Masthaven, I thought I was going to be very businesslike and unemotional about it.

But, to my surprise, I found it extremely difficult,” he muses, “especially when I was watching from the sidelines while someone else was captaining the ship and I so strongly disagreed with many of the decisions that were being made.”

After trying, but failing, to buy back the company in 2023, Andrew reattempted and succeeded the following year in purchasing the remaining assets, which included the bridging and development finance loan book.

“Of course, achieving my aim of buying back Masthaven was not an overnight transaction.

It took an apprehensive nine months to achieve,” explains Andrew. The first step was to agree commercial terms with the other two shareholders. The second, much more challenging step, was to pivot the brand back to its roots as a non-bank lender; Andrew had to wait almost the entire year of 2024 for the banking licence to be revoked and the company to be freed from PRA regulation.

ALL ON BOARD Andrew explains that pairing his brainchild Masthaven with Spring Finance seemed fitting and he decided the company should join hands and rebrand. “It's one of the few decisions where I was probably the worst placed person to make the decision, rather than the best placed,” he admits.

“There were a lot of things we did at Masthaven very well, and I discussed it with the management team and they were all onboard. They said that if I had the opportunity, and I could buy it for the right price, then it was the right thing to do,” he shares.

“It’s super exciting to launch the combined entity of Spring and Masthaven, because that’s essentially what we are. A lot of the staff used to work at Masthaven and five out of the six senior managers at Spring were previously part of the senior management team at Masthaven.

It feels like that's our authentic self, and that's who we should trade as.”

“I’m incredibly proud of what we have achieved at Spring since launch and reigniting the Masthaven brand to build from this growth is very exciting”— Claire

LEFT to RIGHT: Claire Newman, Shelley Stern, Jim Baker

“As a team, we have transformed Spring Finance over the last couple of years.

We are all incredibly excited and motivated to build on this success, using the Masthaven brand coupled with the benefit of hindsight and experience”— Shelley

“We have made huge steps at Spring since launching the bridging and development divisions and at the heart of that has been a team that were part of the prebank days at Masthaven.

This is an exciting step in our evolution and I can’t wait to bring this recognised name back to the market”— Jim

Exclusive

BACKING BEHIND IT ALL In February, after the formal announcement of the merger, Masthaven will launch a series of bridging and development finance products.

Being tech-savvy, Andrew highlights the company has spent “a great deal of money, time, and effort putting in place a new loan origination platform”, partnering with Optalitix and LendingMetrics.

April will see the emergence of the mortgage and secured loans platform followed by a new bridging and development finance system in early summer.

Andrew hints that “very sizeable funding” is in place to support the company’s growth plans, as well as an office move in the autumn and the recruitment of a number of new staff.

Something Andrew finds rewarding is that his business has boosted many others’ careers.

“When I started, it surprised me how much enjoyment and pride I took from seeing other people do so well in their careers.

I've had a number of people come up to me who’ve worked for Masthaven over the years, saying: ‘I just want to say thank you, you really kickstarted my career.’ That’s been much more meaningful to me than I realised it would be.”

Last December, nine Spring employees celebrated internal promotions, paving the way for future opportunities. “If you are part of a fast-growing organisation, you get so much more opportunity for advancement much quicker,” he notes.

2025 is set to be transitional year for Spring/Masthaven. “Only time will tell if we're successful,” says Andrew.

“As many famous people say, the harder you work, the luckier you get. But there are things I try that don't work out. I've produced so many business plans and so many forecasts.

They've never, ever been correct. Some of them have done better than forecasted, others worse, but I've never exactly hit plan. It's just about having a base case and having confidence that a small number of things going wrong doesn't derail the business.”

Andrew adds: “There is no certainty in business life—the only thing I can guarantee is that everyone in the team is fully committed to making the company successful.”

Bridging & Commercial

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LUNCH WITH BRANSON If there’s one thing that Andrew will bring in this new chapter, it’s the important lessons he’s learnt—including one he attributes to Richard Branson.

“When I was involved in the Sunday Times Fast Track, one of the events was lunch with Richard Branson. You go to his house in Oxfordshire and have lunch with him and the CEO of Virgin Group,” he recalls. “He addresses the people invited and starts talking about all the businesses he was involved in which failed, which is an interesting way to start a talk to a room full off entrepreneurs and from someone who's had such a successful entrepreneurial career. He says that you can't guarantee you're going to be successful, but you can't be scared to try—that is failure,” he shares.

With more confidence now than he had two decades ago, Andrew emphasises the importance of staying humble and acknowledging the many factors beyond your control. “All you can do is stack the odds in your favour through hard work and honest business principles.”

NOW FOR THE NICHE Masthaven will look to tackle niche areas in the market, including development finance in the self-build sector and for SME developers that the big banks tend to overlook. The combined company will also enter the first-charge residential and BTL mortgage markets, as well as offer lending products for HMOs. “We're very much committed to replicating what was good with Masthaven; we're viewing this as Masthaven 2.0, drawing all our learnings from the first time around and taking it to another level,” he says.

Over the next five years, Andrew’s ambition is for the business to become a £1bn-a-year lender.

“I’ve produced so many business plans and so many forecasts. They’ve never, ever been correct. Some of them have done better than forecasted, others worse, but I’ve never exactly hit plan. It’s just about having a base case and having confidence that a small number of things going wrong doesn’t derail the business”

Exclusive

“We're super excited to work with our clients again under our new branding and build increasingly strong relationships with them through 2025 and beyond.

Sometimes, the best way forward is to return to where it all began—and make it even better," says Andrew, reflecting on the brand's bold comeback. "We’re not just back; we’re stronger, smarter, and ready for what’s next."

“Sometimes, the best way forward is to return to where it all began—and make it even better” 37

Jan/Feb 2025

Advertorial

Prospect Capital—a trusted partner in the alternative lending and property market

I

Our services

n the competitive world of property finance, finding a proven financial partner who not only understands the market but also aligns with your goals can make all the difference. For nearly a decade, we have delivered bespoke financial solutions and formed lasting partnerships in the residential and commercial real estate sectors. With a proven track record of integrity, expertise, and an entrepreneurial spirit, this fully integrated property and finance group is positioned to be your partner of choice in 2025.

•

Residential and commercial bridging loans: Ideal for clients needing short-term funding for transactions such as acquisitions, refinancing, refurbishment, equity release, and investment opportunities.

• Development exits: Offering developers a flexible refinancing option to provide more time for selling completed schemes or releasing equity in finished projects.

• Joint ventures: Through strategic partnerships with likeminded developers and investors, our property division provides debt and equity solutions to its projects. We seek to become a financial partner with those who are experienced and proven in their field to further their success.

Whether you are a private individual, a limited company, or an offshore entity, our bespoke approach ensures that your financial requirements are met with precision and care.

Who is Prospect Capital?

Founded by investment and finance specialists Denny Lane and Matthew Lawrence, Prospect Capital is part of the Prospect Private Office, which was established 25 years ago in Gibraltar. We boast an impressive heritage of legal expertise, risk management, and property funding.

Headquartered in Jersey with offices in London, Gibraltar and South Africa we have over 150 years of collective experience among our senior management team. This wealth of expertise has enabled the company to provide ethical and responsible lending to the needs of brokers, developers and high-net-worth clients.

Driven by a team of experienced finance and qualified property professionals, at Prospect Capital, we value our reputation for successful property-backed lending.

How can Prospect Capital help you?

At Prospect Capital, we recognise the challenges brokers, property developers and investors face in today’s demanding market. Securing timely, flexible financing is often the difference between success and missed opportunity. Our approach is built around understanding our client's specific needs that not only address immediate requirements but also set the foundation for long-term success.

Straightforward solutions

Helping brokers succeed

As an established group within the alternative lending space, we provide short-term finance, designed to meet the demands of today's fast-moving property market.

Bridging & Commercial

Your reputation depends on delivering results for your clients. Our responsive approach ensures quick decisions and seamless execution.

By working closely with you, we help you close transactions efficiently and successfully. Our internal structure allows us to respond swiftly, typically providing credit-backed terms within 24 hours.

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Advertorial

Why choose Prospect Capital?

Collaboration lies at the heart of our success. Over the years, we have cultivated enduring relationships with brokers and intermediaries, built on trust, reliability, and results. By adopting a commercial, hands-on approach to transactions, ensuring that every deal is completed efficiently and within agreed timescales.

As a privately funded business, partly owned by a substantial family office, our unique set-up is beneficial in today’s competitive property market.

Committed to integrity and excellence Integrity is our core value, that permeates every aspect of our operations.

Our reputation as a responsible and ethical lender is underpinned by our commitment to transparency, trust and professionalism. Unlike some larger institutional firms, we are able to offer a personal, hands-on service that prioritises the client’s objectives.

Our vision for growth Throughout 2025, we are poised for significant growth and expansion.

The past year has been challenging for the UK property market, yet we have remained steadfast in our commitment to innovation and client service. Thanks to the ongoing support of our chairman’s family office and a recent injection of capital, we are well-positioned to grow our loan book and expand the property division. Watch out for the forthcoming announcement regarding this side of Prospect Capital!

Ready to take the next step?

Whether you are exploring a small, quick bridging facility or financing a high-value prime property, Prospect Capital is happy to discuss this with you.

Contact our team today to discover how we can work with you.

Alternatively, to explore the type of transactions we excel at, read the updated case studies on our website. Alternatively to explore the type of transactions we excel at, read the updated case studies on our website. *

*

*

Denny Lane, co-founder: “Despite the challenging market conditions over the last 18 months, I am proud of our performance. We are now seeking controlled growth within the markets we operate in, whilst further strengthening our team. The additional capital and new strategic partnerships for 2025, enable us to focus on building our network and delivering value for our clients.”

Matthew Lawrence, chairman: “Real estate has always been my passion, both in terms of development and financing. I am committed to taking the necessary steps to grow the company’s loan book and property division. The future is bright for Prospect Capital as we continue to support our clients and partners with the highest levels of service and expertise.”

Denny Lane

Explained

SEISMIC ACTIVITY AHEAD IN THE LAND OF BTL

O

n first inspection, there was little in chancellor Rachel Following the Autumn Reeves’ first Budget to concern either mortgage lenders or borrowers. The most attention-grabbing Budget, landlords and announcements have proved to be those on inheritance lenders are facing an tax for farmers and increased employers’ national insurance contributions. incredibly complex and However, several aspects of this Budget are likely to create a landscape for lenders and have a long-term impact on the UK ever-changing landscape volatile mortgage industry, posing challenges for landlords and lenders alike.

Alongside these domestic political factors, which are likely to when it comes to real impinge on the UK real estate finance market in the coming months estate finance. Alex and years, are global geopolitical changes that could prove to be critical.

Edwards advises on evenBymore far the most prominent probable cause of a profound economic is the election of Donald Trump as the next US president. what to anticipate to shiftTrump’s second term, for which he is far more prepared than he previously took office in 2016, will be a White House with avoid disputes around when radically different policies and intentions compared with the previous loan enforcement administration. Under Trump’s leadership, the world’s economic will be more inward looking, adopting policies that could and recovery powerhouse lead to higher costs, higher inflation and, in turn, higher interest

rates in the US. These untested policies could impact growth in the US and in the UK. Renewed and potentially expanding conflict in the Middle East could have far-reaching global effects. Instability in Taiwan could be another source of major financial instability.

Nearer to home, the fault lines of political cohesion in Europe appear to be fracturing. How these macroeconomic headwinds will impact the UK as it settles into having its first Labour government in 14 years is yet to be seen.

While the latest economic growth figures may have dealt a blow to Rachel Reeves, the softer than expected inflation figures suggest that there is now an expectation of further interest rate cuts in the coming months which will be welcomed by borrowers. That said, with the concerns around the growth of the economy, the level of inflation predicted to remain around 3% for the rest of the year, uncertainty as to how fast interest rates will continue to fall and borrowers struggling when they come to refinance could therefore be the early indicators of a new or revived cost-of-living crisis on the horizon.

While not directly linked, the tax-raising policies in Labour’s Budget will have an undeniable impact on the housing market. Shortly after the Budget statement to MPs in the House of Commons, UK

Words by

ALEX EDWARDS Director at Lawrence Stephens

Bridging & Commercial

42

Explained

government borrowing costs rose to their highest level this year. This prompted many City investors to predict that the Bank of England will now be more cautious in its approach to cutting interest rates, contrary to earlier expectations.

Nonetheless, there is still very much an expectation that interest rates will gradually come down.

PREPARE FOR ENFORCEMENT These issues will have to be carefully considered to avoid potential disputes around enforcement and recovery. Lenders will have to ensure their teams are well prepared. They will want to carry out thorough security reviews on loans and portfolios that could go under, and carefully consider what options are available to them before they start looking at formal enforcement.

Large numbers of borrowers on fixed-low rates are now far more likely to be adversely affected when their rate deals come to an end. The most dramatic consequence will likely be an increase in defaults as fixed rates come to an end.

For lenders, it will be challenging to stay up to date with such a volatile market.

It is certainly plausible that borrowers whose budgets are already squeezed may struggle this year as these many factors combine to create a tough monetary environment.

SLOWER DEVELOPMENT

There will continue to be challenges for developers to access financing at cost levels which are profitable, which will have an impact on the number of large-scale projects getting off the ground.

Perhaps insulated from these overarching issues is student accommodation, which is an ever-growing market, and the residential market in prime London, which seems to be in its own bubble. There is consistent appetite for these types of developments.

Lenders will need to be extremely conscious of such issues and monitor potential defaults and, given the state of the market, fully assess their options in terms of the next steps.

“BTLs can still be attractive to borrowers and lenders alike, but lenders should be aware of the changing landscape and the wider economic pressures faced on all sides”

LOOK AT THE LOAN BOOK

Of equal importance is that lenders must look closely through their loan books. It is crucial that they scrutinise the financial condition of borrowers who may have only one or two properties, rather than that of professional landlords with more substantial portfolios who are better set up to weather such storms.

They may also want to consider the impact of the current market climate, propelled by the aforementioned changes in the Budget, on portfolios that operate on tight yield margins. For landlords, just like residential mortgage holders, the measures announced will heavily impact borrowing rates.

International investors in the UK’s real estate market may be less affected, although the well-signposted issues across Europe and the escalation with Russia following the US’s recent decisions around weapon supplies may change this for certain individuals.

BTLs can still be attractive to borrowers and lenders alike, but lenders should be aware of the changing landscape and the wider economic pressures faced on all sides. They should be continually monitoring the effect of changes brought about by the UK government and issues caused by global shifts to understand what this might mean in the long term for defaults or recoveries.

While there has been talk of 300 new planning officers—which is of course welcome—in reality, this likely equates to around one per local authority. In terms of the day-to-day workload, this is a drop in the ocean and is unlikely to improve the planning process or make it quicker and more efficient.

Despite Labour’s rhetoric around support for developments, building and unlocking the grey belt, planning applications taking longer to be processed (due to the lack of extra planning officers) will certainly have an impact on the new-build market.

We are also seeing unit sales on developments taking longer than expected, which will continue to impact developers, at least until interest rates and construction costs stabilise.

Rental yields for landlords may also drop as tenants are more likely to be unable to afford to continue to pay rents as they too continue to rise. The risk of late or missed rent payments could leave landlords in an invidious position when servicing loans secured on their BTL properties. That said, with first-time buyers continuing to struggle to gain a foothold on the property market, rental demand in urban areas is likely to remain strong.

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Jan/Feb 2025

From plans

We’ll be with you for the entirety of your project

Light and heavy refurbishments

Developer exits, including before PC

Residential and semicommercial bridging

To profit

Rates from

0.34

%

per month + BBR

Talk to us about progressing your project 0345 222 9009

deals@octanecapital.co.uk

octanecapital.co.uk

For use by mortgage intermediaries only. Rates can go up or down with BBR. Octane Capital Ltd (Reg No 10481270), Octane Property Finance Ltd (Reg No 10483453) and Octane Property Finance 4 Ltd (Reg No 12491136) are private limited companies registered in England and Wales having their registered office at Devonshire House, Mayfair Place, London W1J 8AJ.

Cover Story

Bridging & Commercial

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Cover Story

deals As we look back on 2024, it’s clear that the specialist finance sector has been shaped by remarkable individuals and teams whose innovation, expertise, and dedication have made an undeniable impact. The nominations for the 2025 Power List showcase some of the brightest minds behind the most outstanding and complex lending deals. From delivering significant bridging loans to pioneering financing solutions for major infrastructure projects, these professionals have gone above and beyond to meet the needs of their clients, overcome challenges, and drive progress in an ever-evolving market.

Each nominee has played a pivotal role in delivering tailored, high-impact solutions that not only benefitted their clients but also contributed to the growth and development of the specialist finance industry as a whole. Their commitment to excellence, collaboration, and adaptability serves as a testament to the continued strength and resilience of the sector

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Jan/Feb 2025

Cover Story

Josh Knight Sales and marketing director at Octane Capital

Jez Quinn Head of sales at West One Loans As head of sales at West One, Jez prides himself on his eagerness to support complicated deals. In 2024, this lender facilitated a £2.146m bridge to a borrower with an offshore company in Jersey at 64.4% LTV over an 18-month term, with the exit being the sale of the security, which included a farm. Jez helped overcome three substantial obstacles. First, the owners were using part of the property as a B&B and weren’t aware they should have got consent for change of use for this . There was also an unexpired lease on the farm element which included an agreement that the tenants would surrender it, which would require payment. Finally, the previous owner had the right to permit mining on the site. Jez overcame the complexities by valuing the property as residential and indemnifying against the mining right.

Bridging & Commercial

In August, Josh facilitated an £8.5m developer exit loan at 70% LTV. The deal involved the purchase of 30 new-build houses at two development sites in Pershore and Ely. With the developer under immense pressure to repay its loan and in desperate need as more time was needed to sell the homes, Josh offered a bespoke solution. Under the deal, he proposed reduced rates—for example, the 2% arrangement fee was offered at 1.36%, and the interest rate was 0.77% per month where it typically would have been higher. Within 24 hours of receiving the case, Josh joined forces with the broker, borrower and underwriter and, four weeks later, it was complete.

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Sally O’Loughlin Senior credit manager at Lendhub If you’re ever in need of financial and emotional support, Sally may be your go-to person. In this tense deal, Sally executed a development exit loan worth £9.1m at 73.95% LTV in nine months, overcoming a myriad of issues with several parties. Sally’s client faced mounting stress to refinance because of severe cost overruns and delays with existing lenders, and had a high risk of receivership which could have meant having to relinquish valuable properties in their portfolio. With various stakeholders involved as well as planning and licensing deficiencies, Sally secured indemnity policies, aligned priorities with multiple parties and offered flexible solutions in funding, such as retaining existing junior lenders on a second charge with specific conditions about the allocation of future sale proceeds. Most importantly, Sally was a key figure in advocating for her client’s rights and carrying this deal over the finish line.

Cover Story

Isabella Emirali Head of asset management at MT Finance Isabella rose to her leadership role in just two years, after joining the lender as new business executive in 2021.

This transaction involved an internal refinance deal worth £985,000, with the borrowers facing significant hurdles in exiting their current loan. Owing to tenant disputes and the lengthy legal process required to secure vacant possession of two investment properties, the clients needed more time and financial flexibility to complete the process and achieve their exit strategy. Isabella’s expertise in litigation allowed her to extend the loan term, enabling the borrowers to focus on resolving the eviction issues without the pressure of an immediate deadline. Her approach addressed both the financial complexities and the mental wellbeing of one of the borrowers, ensuring they had the breathing space needed during this stressful time. The deal reiterates Isabella’s ability to balance commercial objectives with empathy, ensuring both business and personal considerations are respected.

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Jan/Feb 2025

Cover Story

Savvas Nicola Lending director at LHV Bank In this deal, Savvas used his decades-long banking experience to successfully secure a £2.1m urgent refinance on a former hotel in south-east England being used for temporary accommodation for asylum seekers. The loan represented a 64% LTV under a closed hotel, despite the potential to reopen, across a five-year term on a 15-year repayment profile. Savvas navigated tenant break clauses with three months’ notice, with a higher passing rent than standard operating hotels.

Significant investment was also needed to reopen the building as a traditional hotel, and the valuation approach needed to be based on a trading establishment rather than one with vacant possession. Savvas collaborated with independent surveyors, structured an action plan and agreed on cash retention covenants to mitigate risk. The deal was completed in less than two months.

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Cover Story

Hiten Ganatra

Natasha Yea

Managing director at Mortimer Street Capital Hiten used his industry experience as a company director and portfolio landlord to help his client, a landlord, developer and construction business owner, seek better terms for London-based commercial property investments. The client was unable to renegotiate terms with their existing UK clearing bank and instructed Mortimer Street Capital (MSC) to structure a facility covering 11 securities against commercial and residential properties, as well as land and development sites. One asset failed to meet the planning requirements owing to changes in building and fire regulations, which delayed the exchange of contracts as the buyer had to be involved in negotiations. MSC secured an 18-month loan with desirable market terms, and navigated complexities such as short leases, EPC ratings and tricky rental agreements. After a last-minute concern on the part of the lender on site planning risks, Hiten was crucial in appointing a specialist valuer and banking lawyer to arrange a £27.5m commercial refinance bridge—their largest since the company was launched in January 2024.

Director at Next Route Finance Natasha was approached by a property developer looking to scale their development business to secure funding for their largest project to date: converting a former office building (class E) into 10 flats (class C3). The developer sought a development finance loan to cover both the purchase and the works, to be paid out in stages. Natasha’s expertise in new-builds and large conversion projects helped her navigate a complex financing structure, securing a loan with 65% LTGDV over a 15-month term, with a GDV of £1.85m. There were several issues at play. The size of the property—a 10,000 sq ft, detached commercial building in a mixed-use residential and commercial area in the South West, posed problems with finding a term lender willing to finance the project. Few lenders were open to supporting such an unusual case. The quantity surveyor’s report highlighted an unexpected cost for the project, meaning that the loan facility had to be adjusted accordingly. This resulted in the client requiring a higher day-one deposit. In addition, the client, though experienced in property development, had never undertaken a project of this size.

Natasha was able to highlight transferable skills from their previous projects and their ability to manage complexity. Unexpectedly, the client’s new business partner pulled out with the bulk of the investment. The project had to be restructured and additional legal paperwork was required, including a deed of subordination to mitigate the new risks associated with the change in the ownership structure. Despite these hurdles, Natasha’s knowledge of development funding enabled the client to proceed on time, with a minimal day-one investment, while maintaining a high return on investment on their own equity, and ensuring the cost of funds remained competitive.

Lorenzo Satchell Sales director of bridging finance at Hampshire Trust Bank The deal involved the purchase of a portfolio of more than 90 units within multiple MUFBs, valued at £10m. The vendor, an expatriate in Thailand, agreed to sell through a share purchase structure, with the client acquiring 100% of the shares in an Isle of Man-domiciled special purpose vehicle (SPV). This results in legal and structural difficulties. The client negotiated a substantial discount to £8.6m and financed the transaction through a £7.5m net bridging loan, secured against the portfolio and two other properties.

This posed issues as the loan had to adhere to the legal structures of both the UK properties and the Isle of Man-based SPV, and overcome legal hurdles regarding the third party legal charge. Despite downvaluations, collaboration between Lorenzo and the other parties’ legal representatives ensured the deal remained viable and a £7.015m net loan was secured. This was on a part rolled, part serviced basis with three months of rolled interest, followed by nine months of serviced interest to enable the client to carry out cosmetic refurbishment and refinance the portfolio at an uplifted value.

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Jan/Feb 2025

Cover Story

Dan Narwal Regional account manager at Together

Ram Kakar Head of real estate at Christie Finance This sophisticated deal involved a development exit loan for four detached houses in Ascot, with a GDV of £6.3m. The loan was tricky for various reasons; for example, the client required a 70% LTV against aggregate market value, not vacant possession or 180-day value (MV180). The equity was sourced by a high-networth investor in Nigeria with no significant assets in the UK or personal guarantee (PG), and was a first-time borrower, so naturally rigorous due diligence was required. The client had also approached three brokers, who failed to meet the borrowers’ requirements. Ram liaised with KSEYE to propose a 70% LTV at £4.12m against the aggregate market value with no requirement of PGs within two days of instruction, deviating from the lender’s standard 180 -day value policy and limit on funding more than 65% without a PG. Ram engaged the team—the BDMs and sales director as well as the CEO and co-CEO —to secure these exceptions.

When the valuation fell short of £500,000, Ram leveraged his network to secure a second charge lender from a previous client of KSEYE. To accelerate completion and prevent £80,000 in default charges, Ram secured a blanket, no-search indemnity policy for both lenders. Thus, the transaction was completed in 24 hours, two days before the redemption deadline, and Ram went further to negotiate a 1.75% procurement fee for Christie Finance, with a gross £4.6m loan over 12 months to give the client sufficient time to maximise property sales.

Bridging & Commercial

Dan helped a freelance photographer obtain a £179,000 second charge bridge at 70% LTV to support the build of a photography studio in her home. After signing a career-changing contract with Waitrose that would elevate her career, the photographer, a client of Landmark Specialist Finance, struggled to fund costly studio rentals, and could not find a studio to purchase that would meet her needs. Dan and broker Gaurav Ladhar of Landmark proposed leveraging the value of her home equity by funding an extension for a fully equipped kitchen studio. Dan structured the deal using Together’s home owner business loan, lending to the photographer’s limited company with a third party legal charge on her residence.

This solution provided the funds to create a custom-built workspace, ensuring long-term sustainability and unlocked a new phase of success for the client.

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Michael Mann Broker business development director at Allica Bank Having joined the bank in 2021 and progressing to his role two years later, Michael was a key player in delivering a £10m loan to a family-run business in Hounslow, west London, to refurbish and expand the area’s tallest building, which is near Heathrow Airport. The project aimed to convert three residential floors back into office spaces and add 150 new serviced offices. Michael’s innovative structuring of the loan as a single-term facility, rather than a bridging loan, saved the customer from costly refinancing—a rare decision for such transactions. He was presented with a few challenges, including a complex shareholder structure involving Dubai-based individuals who housed more than 200 tenants on various leases. He worked closely with the credit committee, leveraging the building’s strong income generation and stable trading history to gain approval.

He streamlined the review process for a proportion of the tenant leases to help reduce costs for the customer.

Cover Story

Kelsey Phillips Founder of Arose Finance Having established Arose Finance in April 2024, Kelsey has faced the largest case her network has seen this year—an extremely urgent development deal. A developer, having exchanged on a land purchase, was liable to lose six-figures when their private investor pulled out with less than 30 days to complete—a process that typically takes 5-6 months. The deal was characterised by four directors (three traveling abroad), three corporate entities and four solicitors . Within 24 hours, Kelsey sourced a lender, packaged the entire development deal and obtained a credit-backed offer. She also negotiated a full retype of the valuation and Portfolio Management System reports, ensured pre-loan due diligence was completed within seven working days and arranged an international courier to deliver legal documents from the Netherlands. With just two hours to spare, Kelsey completed the loan, securing 100% LTC with zero cash input.

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Jan/Feb 2025

Cover Story

Jake Sarratt Key account manager at PCF Financial Services Using his 20-year industry experience, Jake helped structure a £4.09m term loan with Shawbrook Bank to refinance a mixed-use investment portfolio on a five-year fixed term. The goal was to refinance with the Bank of Ireland at 50% LTV with no cash out and no personal guarantees. However, the properties were all held in a tricky offshore trust structure, which required meticulous in-house legal coordination. The expat status of the ultimate beneficial owner would typically require a 0.25% expat loading, but Jake proved there was UK-based director involvement, enabling him to remove the loading entirely. Adding to the complexities, the value of a connected deal came in 50% lower than expected, creating a funding gap. Jake negotiated with two ultra-high-net-worth borrowers to provide a PG of 25% to leverage the release of £600,000 to compensate for the down valuation and enable an additional £3m loan to proceed. Jake obtained bespoke terms, including a 0.5% arrangement fee reduction and residential pricing despite the commercial elements. The deal closed before Christmas, leaving both client and the lender satisfied.

Bridging & Commercial

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Matt Watson Head of sales for BTL and bridging - South, West One Loans In his 10 years of working in the industry, Matt considers this deal one of the “most complex”. The purpose was to raise funds against four properties, three residential and one commercial, in prime London spots, with a combined value of £13.7m. The borrower’s family owned 50% of the shares in a leisure business in Africa and sought funds to buy out the other shareholders and drive the next phase of business growth.

The exit strategy was to refinance through a long-term investment mortgage. However, the deal posed difficulties for multiple reasons. The borrowers were citizens and residents of Nigeria, and the funds were to be used within their Nigerian business.

The lender conducted a video interview and was somewhat reassured to find that one of the shareholders being bought out was a reputable, multinational company.

In addition, the commercial property was tenanted by an embassy, complicating the potential to obtain vacant possession if loan redemption became an issue. On top of this, three of the properties were owned in an offshore structure held in Liberia, which significantly limited the law firms the lenders could work with for due diligence. However, the borrowers planned to transfer the properties to a UK special purpose vehicle (SPV) but lacked the time to complete it by the deadline. The loan was structured to make the UK SPV the borrower, with third-party first legal charges on all four properties. Five weeks later, the £7.19m loan was completed, and it was refinanced within six months.

Natalie Anderson

Saam Lowni

Mortgage and protection adviser at Connect Mortgages

Director at Merryoaks Property Finance

This property finance deal stands out for how it transformed a retiring couple’s lifestyle. Seeking to purchase a glamping site in Cornwall with a loan of roughly £300,000 as part of their semi-retirement plans, the couple faced a number of complexities.

These included the security of mixed-use land and residential accommodation, their lack of experience in hospitality, a time-sensitive property chain and the need for a radon report because of the site’s location. Despite these issues, the deal was successfully structured with the help of Allica Bank. A hands-on approach was taken to manage the property chain, ensuring all parties moved in sync, while thorough due diligence and compliance were maintained. The couple was able to move onto the property, securing ownership of a thriving glamping business with significant potential for growth. Their strategic enhancements to the site, combined with the financial plan in place, position them for future success. Ultimately, the deal enabled their dream of semi-retirement and also allowed them to build a promising business.

Saam, a developer, landlord, podcast presenter and half of a two-person team , funded a £5.8m loan for a £9.8m GDV scheme for six homes in Essex, with the help of UTB . Together, they overcame nerve-wracking challenges.

The borrower wanted to transition from one house at £1.6m GDV to a six-unit scheme with a much higher GDV and construction costs. The contemporary elements of the property, as well as its high-value, single-unit structure, deterred many lenders—and that was before accounting for the borrower’s absolute minimum net asset value.

One of the additional securities that the borrower offered was occupied by rogue tenants, who had to be evicted to prevent disclosure to the lender. The property valuation was downgraded from £10.2m to £9.4m, and Saam negotiated an additional £400,000, bringing it to £9.8m. Saam cooperated with a neighbouring landowner to reduce the high option price agreement, and he strategically offered a solicitor for reassurance regarding good communication. Following fundamental negotiations with various parties— lenders, solicitors, tenants, quantity surveyors and valuers—the deal was closed after 12 months.

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Sam Bryce Underwriter at MS Lending Group Sam played a pivotal role in securing a £4.6m loan for a client purchasing 52 houses directly from Dudley Council within a tight and inflexible time frame.

The client had already exchanged on the properties but lacked full access, making physical valuations impossible, and most lenders will not complete a deal of that size without them. Adding to the pressure, the government’s decision to scrap multiple dwellings relief by June 2024 meant the client had to complete before the deadline to avoid substantial additional costs. Nonetheless, Sam orchestrated a solution using AVMs, enabling swift completion within weeks.

Karen Mcgrath Regional business development manager at Atom Bank In this deal, Karen demonstrated her vast experience in the UK care home sector. Last year, she provided a £640,000 commercial mortgage for a first-time care home buyer who had been overlooked by several high-street lenders owing to their own and the homes’ circumstances. The borrower, who had extensive experience working with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to turn around underperforming care homes, launched their own business with the goal of acquiring and improving such homes. While many lenders could not see beyond the requires improvement status and that the borrower was a first-time buyer, Karen focused on the borrower’s experience and goodwill. She worked closely with the broker, reviewing the borrower’s history and improvement plans. By assessing the borrower’s merits rather than the technical status of being a first-time buyer, Karen crafted a bespoke solution and provided the funding they needed.

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Gavin Diamond CEO at Inspired Lending In this deal, Gavin came to the help of a junior creditor to secure funding for a borrower purchasing 11 partly renovated houses in Cumbria for £1.2m from an administrator acting on behalf of the senior creditor. The borrower needed to acquire the properties to protect their return. This was a highly complex deal, with multiple lenders already having failed to get comfortable with it due to issues including a complex corporate structure to minimise stamp duty land tax, a partial debt offset by the purchase, a director facing potential bankruptcy, concerns over past renovation quality and planning and building control issues. By the time Gavin stepped in, the borrower had exhausted other options, and the administrator had lost patience.

A rival bidder was ready to proceed, meaning completion had to happen within just five working days. Gavin navigated numerous complications as they arose , acted as the key coordinator between all parties—including the borrower’s struggling solicitor—and facilitated the use of a retype of a valuation report (carried out for another lender) to meet the deadline.

Cover Story

Sophia Lee Relationship manager at Avamore Capital Leading the completion of a £2.75m development loan for a project in Barking with 12 flats and a commercial unit, Sophia navigated structuring difficulties resulting from dual ownership of adjacent sites. Since the borrowers invested £900,000, the loan was designed to cover the remaining construction costs, with the clients exiting by refinancing with mainstream lenders including Barclays.

This deal proved challenging due to its urgency, with the borrower facing pressure from a contractor threatening to leave the site unless immediate funding was secured. Sophia flagged this up, and organised a meeting with the borrower and broker to communicate expectations, expedited credit approval within 24 hours and officiated the underwriting process.

Sophia persevered to ensure outstanding regulatory issues were resolved, such as those of the rights of light and council charges. She went further to argue for flexibility with a 13.4% profit margin, which is less than the company’s 15% minimum.

To execute within the contractor’s rigid timeframe, Sophie coordinated team collaboration and saw that the underwriter hand delivered the documents to solicitors.

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Colin Horton Co-founder of Project & Co This deal highlights Colin’s ability to provide a detailed property valuation worth £6.5m in just three days. Colin, who sees tight deadline as friends, was approached by Tenn Capital, which needed a development finance valuation for a 13-unit scheme, and his meticulous attention to detail instilled confidence in the lender and guaranteed deal completion.

Alongside time constraints, Colin also identified legal discrepancies that could have delayed or derailed the transaction; addressing these issues required both technical knowledge and also effective communication with the lender.

As multiple parties relied on the valuation in such a tight time frame, he needed to manage high stakeholder expectations.

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Saif Khalique Head of underwriting at Aspen Bridging Aspen recently completed a £6.95m light development loan at 75% LTV in just five days for a high-end project in Kensington, west London. The developer, a Nigerian national, was looking to transform a seven-bedroom luxury townhouse into a deluxe residence with spa facilities, underground parking and an ultra-luxurious thermal spa among other amenities. An initial £6.75m was released to redeem the development lender, with the remaining £200,000 available to draw down later for completion. The loan was agreed with a flat rate of 0.95% over 10 months, with exit through a BTL mortgage once the project is complete.

Katie Spitz Senior underwriter at Funding 365 A prime example of Katie’s dedication to delivering top service and communicating with brokers effectively was a £840,000 residential ground-up deal she led last year. The loan was offered at 60% LTGDV on two new-build houses in Suffolk. Despite non-standard construction, a tight deadline for securing building insurance and the late discovery of a community infrastructure levy payment, the deal was completed on time, with Katie navigating each challenge with determination. One of Katie’s clients said: “From start to finish, Katie was super responsive, intuitive and very helpful in dealing with any and all queries and updates.”

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Kynan Benjamin Director of lending and operations at Century Capital Despite only joining the company as head of lending less than a year ago, Kynan led on a deal on an attractive property in Notting Hill, lending a total of £5.65m out of the £8.25m value at 68.5% LTV. An initial £3.5m drawdown was required to refinance an existing loan, and an additional £300,000 advance for works to increase its value after planning approval; the borrower hoped to renovate the property by demolishing and rebuilding the rear extension. The transaction encountered issues surrounding planning delays, party wall agreements and gaining approval from neighbours. Ky used his industry connections to liaise with surveyors, consultants and the borrower to overcome the hurdles quickly. When planning permission was granted, the loan was transformed into a development mortgage, and an additional £1.85m funding, completed in just over three weeks, was secured for an 11-month extended term.

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Marcus Dussard

Denny Lane

Sales and marketing director at KSEYE In June 2024, KSEYE completed a £14.25m development exit loan for a former office building in north London, which had been converted into 45 apartments.

While the deal came through a trusted broker, Marcus played a crucial role in ensuring its completion. Despite offering the maximum 75% LTV, there was a shortfall in the funding required to repay the borrower’s development facility. The property also needed an additional £150,000 for the remaining works. Marcus resolved this by leveraging a new relationship with a mezzanine lender, securing additional funding on a second charge basis. The deal was KSEYE’s largest loan of 2024 and pushed their cumulative lending past the £800m mark and eventually reshaping their maximum loan size from £25m to £50m. The loan was repaid within the six-month term, with the borrower completing the final works, tenanting the property and refinancing onto a BTL loan as planned.

Director at Prospect Capital In early 2021, Prospect Capital was introduced to a Middle Eastern family based in the US. After successful meetings in London and Jersey, Denny formally engaged with them. Their Delaware-based structure was complex and they lacked a UK footprint. Denny provided a £9.1m facility at 70% LTV to acquire a prime commercial property on Fulham Road in west London.

Shahil Kotecha CEO at Pivot

The client needed time to change use from retail to private medical, securing the required planning consents before refinancing with another family office during construction.

However, unexpected delays and rising build costs created difficulties. Their incumbent lender, despite prior assurances, demanded repayment mid-construction and threatened receivership without grounds. Given Denny’s understanding of prime real estate finance, he stepped in to assist, despite the significant challenge of refinancing a mid-construction asset at shell and core stage. With fresh equity from the client and Prospect Capital’s property division providing project oversight and management, Denny structured a new facility within just three weeks—over the festive period. During this time, Denny also shielded the client from lender pressures, navigating legal complexities to prevent a forced sale until the new financing was completed. Practical completion is expected early this year, with an estimated GDV of £24m.

Shahil spearheaded a £9m loan for a borrower acquiring a site out of receivership, overcoming significant complexities, including negotiating settlement agreements with 27 depositholders from the failed project. The loan provided the initial funding to acquire the derelict commercial property, with further funding allocated for its transformation into a luxury apartment complex. Despite the distressed nature of the asset and planning issues, Shahil collaborated with the experienced developer to navigate these problems—spending months negotiating bilateral agreements with off-plan investors worldwide to remove restrictions on the title. When planning permission lapsed, Shahil helped support the borrower by engaging legal experts and gathering witness statements to prove works had started on the original construction project. Shahil’s willingness to offer a 90%-plus loan-to-cost and getting over these hurdles were integral to the success of the deal.

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Cover Story

Samuel Cousins Senior regional sales director at Ultimate Finance

Kerry Bradshaw Business development executive at Roma Finance Despite being new to the sales role at the point of this transaction, Kerry steered away from the initial single advance deals that her role required and championed a £755,000 development loan.

This was to purchase a Grade II listed commercial building and convert it into a 15-bed HMO for university students, with room for commercial use on the ground floor. Discussions surrounding the deal had begun eight months earlier, with an agreement in place to purchase the property within six months. However, the building’s title structure was complex; it was part of a larger shopping centre and neighbouring buildings, with various parts up for sale, joint venture partners and concerns that Land Registry applications would be delayed. To overcome this, Kerry consulted panel solicitors pre-application to address potential risks upfront.

This helped when providing loan terms and costs were flexible to reflect the borrower’s expertise in the sector.

Bridging & Commercial

The deal involved a £3.1m equity release bridging loan covering 45 individual property valuations. The purpose was to generate capital for a developer with a portfolio of 100 properties who needed funding to implement their changed business strategy. With the transaction already at a critical stage after contracts had been exchanged, Sam tailored the right bridging loan to secure the funding in a tight time frame. The loan allowed the developer to repay an existing £1.85m facility and raise the additional capital required for new property purchases. What set this deal apart was the complexity of coordinating the 45 valuations across multiple locations, reviewing them and completing all necessary legal documentation in just 10 days.

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David Castling Head of intermediary distribution at Atom Bank Atom Bank’s delivery of a £9.95m facility for the VOCO Leicester Hotel marked a significant milestone, being the bank’s largest commercial mortgage to date.

The loan enabled Kew Green Hotels to acquire ownership of Hotel Brooklyn Leicester and rebrand it as a VOCO hotel in partnership with IHG and it was completed in under 12 weeks.

This milestone was thanks to David’s communication with all stakeholders and external parties—the broker, the borrower and solicitors—who exchanged more than 250 emails over the duration of the transaction. This case highlights the impact of on speed, flexibility and competitive pricing in the commercial mortgage sector. It also spotlights Atom’s collaboration with Assetz Capital, and the importance of teamwork when securing successful deals.

Cover Story

Leanne Ardron Director of bridging finance at LendInvest In this deal, Leanne reflected the true nature of her role in offering support despite difficulties. She led an £8.6m deal for an existing customer looking to transition their loan to finance the conversion and refurbishment of an eight-storey, mixed-use building in Islington into 15 homes and commercial space. The main difficulty was gaining the freeholder’s consent for the works, which seemed straightforward until they demanded an ex-gratia payment and consent and release of funds for each home’s sale.

Leanne negotiated a one-off payment—split into 80% upfront and 20% second charge—ensuring an unbound LTA that enabled the client to sell or refinance without further freeholder consent. Further complexity arose from the need to refinance an existing loan with another lender to cover £1.2m shortfall caused by unforeseen delays in the negotiations for the Lifetime Allowance LTA . This deal had a number of payments on completion day, including the LTA, the redemption of two bridge loans, a drawdown of land and bridge loans with LendInvest and the release of surplus funds to the client. Leanne and her team persevered throughout.

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Sundeep Patel Director of bridging at UTB Last summer, UTB was approached by a long-standing broker partner to assist a consortium of international property investors with an extensive portfolio spanning the UK, the Middle East and Europe. The group required approximately £3.4m to complete a hotel renovation project in eastern Europe. Initially, the final phase of the project was to be funded through the sale of another property, but the sale was delayed. To keep the hotel development on track, the broker and clients opted to refinance several central London apartments, valued at £4.8m, to secure the necessary funds. The loan was agreed at just under 70% LTV over an 18-month term. With multiple viable exit strategies available, including refinancing the security flats and additional property and land not part of the security package, UTB’s bridging team conducted due diligence on the company structure, principals, security properties and the hotel project. Despite the complexities, the team completed the loan on time, enabling the borrowers to proceed with their hotel development.

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Edward Alexson

Liz Griffiths

COO at Iron Bridge Finance Edward was pivotal in the £10m mezzanine financing of the redevelopment of the Ashford International Truckstop, one of Europe’s largest logistics hubs. Located near the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel, the site plays a crucial role in the UK’s logistics network, with 3.5m annual heavy goods vehicle (HGV) crossings. The financing enabled vital upgrades that supported the £50m sale to BP, which plans to transform the site into the UK’s first mega-watt electric vehicle charging station for HGVs. The successful transaction, which is aligned with the UK’s green goals, demonstrates Edward’s ability to provide bespoke, strategic financing that drives the transition to low-carbon infrastructure.

Bridging finance underwriter at Market Harborough Building Society Liz Griffiths was instrumental in securing a £200,000 re-bridge for a client facing a family dispute and emotional stress. Having already been funded by another lender for 12 months, the client was struggling to place the case elsewhere. Liz took the time to fully understand the client’s circumstances and used her experience with not-so-straightforward bridging scenarios to find a swift solution. Liz initiated using both titles of the security property, valued over £1m, which helped secure the loan and supported the decision-making process for the credit committee.

Liz’s approach, including her use of an automated valuation models for speed, led to a quick and positive outcome.

Jonathan Newman Senior partner at Brightstone Law Jonathan successfully recovered over £1m for a lender caught in a complex divorce dispute, where fraud and forgery allegations threatened their security. He negotiated a deal outside of court that ensured the lender’s debt was repaid first and secured a new, undisputed mortgage contract. This outcome not only protected the lender but also spared the couple from costly legal battles. The clients felt it was a smart, fair resolution that showcased Jonathan’s expertise in handling highstakes financial disputes.

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Cover Story

Akhil Mair Managing director at Our Mortgage Broker Limited

Mohinder Parmar Specialist finance account manager at OSB Group With decades of banking experience and three years in his role at OSB’s Interbay brand, Mohinder expedited his greatest deal yet: a commercial refinance deal worth £54.5m in two central London locations, Great Suffolk Yard and The Risborough. The client sought appealing office spaces to meet post-Covid demand, but the first issue was needing to finish the deal within three months to avoid a loan with a high standard variable rate. Second, the buildings contained vacant offices, which held down their value.

Using his market knowledge, Mohinder was aware that a BREAAMaccredited building typically achieves a 9% rental premium and would be highly attractive to publicly listed tenants seeking sustainable spaces. He presented a strong case to Interbay’s transactional credit committee, which took it on and following cooperation with the sales, underwriting and completions departments and an external legal team, completed the case in 14 weeks, exceeding client expectations. This deal was used as by Interbay as a core example to brokers of its depth of expertise.

Bridging & Commercial

This entertainment industry transaction involved funding the urgent refurbishment of a commercial film studio in west London. The client, an AAA-rated international brand, needed funds within a tight five-day time frame so it could start producing a film. This deal stands out owing to its quick turnaround; it was submitted on a Saturday, a valuation was arranged for the following Monday and the final report was delivered on Tuesday. Legal completion was finalised by Friday at 6pm.

Akhil dealt with cross-property securities and tricky high-value commercial assets, and required precision to coordinate multiple stakeholders and align their agreements. He channelled his expertise in bridging finance as well as his ability to solve problems and communicate proactively to provide a tailored approach to the client’s needs, helping secure a major win for all parties.

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Kara Williams Intermediary relationship manager at Together Kara played a pivotal role in facilitating a £122,000 semi-commercial mortgage for a Sri Lankan couple to purchase a convenience store they had been renting to prevent the wife’s visa expiring and the risk of deportation. Kara structured a 70% LTV mortgage for foreign nationals and ensured that the couple’s overseas-based source of their deposit met compliance standards.

She also worked closely with the broker, underwriter and compliance team to meet strict regulatory requirements. With just one hour before the 4pm deadline, Kara made a critical final call to the underwriter, ensuring all final requirements were met.

The funds were released on the same day, securing the couple’s future and reflecting Kara’s ability to deliver solutions under pressure.

Cover Story

David Gissing Associate director at LDN Finance David secured finance for a client transferring property ownership from their ex-partner to a limited company, using gifted equity as a deposit—a structure many lenders found problematic. The transaction involved a Southeast London property, valued at £450,000, that required renovation with plans to convert it into two flats for resale as a retirement fund.

Lenders were hesitant as it was not considered an “arm’s-length” transaction post-divorce, despite the property transfer being part of the divorce agreement. After an initial lender pulled out due to legal delays, David acted swiftly to secure a 100% net lending short-term loan at a market-leading rate, ensuring the client could proceed with their development plans.

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Flexible funding that covers 100% of refurbishment costs To final sale

From first idea

Bridging & Commercial

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Projects we love to fund

Decorative

Structural

Change of use

Auction purchases.

Loft conversions.

House to HMO.

Poor condition properties.

Rear/side extensions.

House to flats.

Dormer extensions.

Commercial to residential.

75% LTV NET day one + 100% of build costs

Rates from 0.37% per month + BBR

Talk to us about progressing your project 0345 222 9009

deals@octanecapital.co.uk

octanecapital.co.uk

For use by mortgage intermediaries only. Rates can go up or down with BBR. Octane Capital Ltd (Reg No 10481270), Octane Property Finance Ltd (Reg No 10483453) and Octane Property Finance 4 Ltd (Reg No 12491136) are private limited companies registered in England and Wales having their registered office at Devonshire House, Mayfair Place, London W1J 8AJ.

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Zeitgeist

hallenger banks unveil a new era for underwriters Digital processes and hybrid working are here to stay. While full-time underwriters at introducers' offices haven’t quite made a pre-pandemic comeback, challenger banks are flipping the script. They're bringing underwriters into the spotlight, offering more interactive, customerfocused approaches to fuel growth and build stronger connections Words by

PIOTR TWAITS Managing director at Synergy Commercial Finance

W

Hybrid versus hands-on

hile automation and digital connectivity are increasing, challenger banks are carving out a niche with the personal touch. These institutions, unburdened by legacy systems and bureaucracy, are not only winning market share but also setting new benchmarks in customer service and operational efficiency. Their approach is rooted in a return to fundamentals: building relationships, understanding unique needs and delivering personalised solutions.

Embedding underwriters on-site with finance packagers is a case in point. While close collaboration has always been essential, it was significantly disrupted by the pandemic. And, as we move forward, its revival—or adaptation—provides valuable insights into the future of commercial finance.

Bridging & Commercial

While having underwriters on-site with finance packagers was not widespread even before Covid, the shift towards digital collaboration tools and remote communication since the pandemic has further reduced the necessity for physical co-location. The industry quickly adapted to hybrid working, leveraging technology such as Microsoft Teams and Zoom. However, the extent to which each broker benefits from this will largely depend on the strength of their relationships with lending partners. Not all brokers will gain to the same degree, and many may find belonging to a network significantly rewarding.

Today, while some of the larger lenders and brokers are encouraging a return to the office—through perks and team-building activities, for example—the practice of embedding full-time underwriters at introducers' sites has not rebounded to pre-pandemic levels.

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There are two main, multifaceted reasons. First is staffing and efficiency; hybrid working is preferred by many, and is supported by technology that allows underwriters to handle multiple introducers remotely and schedule meetings more flexibly.

The second is cost-effectiveness. Maintaining an underwriter on site for a single introducer is less efficient compared to the scalability offered by remote working models.

Interestingly, the absence of a clear industry standard has led to variation in approaches between lenders and brokers and even across individual products.

However, the drawbacks cannot be ignored. An underwriter stationed at a single site can support only one introducer, which may not justify the resource allocation from a financial perspective. In today’s fast-paced environment, the ability to respond to multiple introducers efficiently is often a priority.

Given these trade-offs, a hybrid approach—combining in-person interaction for key deals and digital solutions for routine cases— emerges as the most practical path forward.

Bringing everyone closer

One question often asked is whether clients value face-to-face interaction in today’s increasingly digital world. The answer, unsurprisingly, is nuanced.

For routine transactions or straightforward cases, digital processes are often sufficient, offering speed and convenience. However, for larger, more complex deals—especially those involving multiple stakeholders—personal interaction remains highly advantageous.

Even virtual face-to-face meetings via platforms like Teams or Zoom help establish rapport and provide an opportunity to address concerns in real time.

There’s also a generational dynamic at play. Newer entrants to the market, including less experienced brokers and buyers, tend to require more guidance and support, which is better delivered through direct interaction.

Conversely, seasoned professionals may prioritise efficiency over personal engagement, favouring well-designed digital tools and an auditable communication trail.

Challenger banks, with their quick adaptation, are in a strong position to offer a hybrid model that caters to these varied preferences. By leveraging technology to complement human connection, they ensure that their services are both scalable and deeply personalised.

Digital, personal, either, both

Challenger banks are reshaping how underwriters interact with brokers and clients, striving to blend the convenience of digital tools with the benefits of face-to-face engagement. Two trends underscore their efforts.

First is event-based interaction. By sending underwriters alongside BDMs to industry events, challenger banks create opportunities to interact directly. For example, Meet the Funder events allow brokers to discuss deals face to face with decision-makers. This reduces the lag and misunderstandings often associated with multiple layers of stakeholders when they communicate over email.

Then there is interaction directly with underwriters.

In some exceptional cases, challenger banks have adopted a mobile model, assigning territories to roving underwriters where they actively visit brokers and, in some cases, end customers. However, more commonly there has been growth in booking time with underwriters directly via Teams or Zoom to discuss and shape deals. This proactive engagement builds trust and accelerates deal processing. It also provides a clearer understanding of complex cases, fostering better collaboration between brokers, clients and funders.

The benefits of these approaches are substantial. Relationships are built. Brokers feel more valued when their funders invest time and resources into personalised engagement. Stronger relationships translate into greater loyalty and smoother deal structuring. Then, processes become more streamlined.

Personal interaction helps brokers better understand an underwriter’s credit appetite, improving the accuracy of submissions and reducing back-and-forth queries.

Nonetheless, it is important to acknowledge the challenges. The commercial property sector, for instance, relies heavily on solicitors, many of whom continue to work in a semi-remote capacity. This adds complexity and potential delays, underlining the need for a holistic approach to deal efficiency across the buying and selling chain.

“BROKERS FEEL MORE VALUED WHEN THEIR FUNDERS INVEST TIME AND RESOURCES INTO PERSONALISED ENGAGEMENT”

Speed—with authenticity The future of commercial finance will be shaped by an ongoing balancing act: delivering the personal touch where it adds value while embracing digital tools to enhance efficiency. Challenger banks are leading this evolution, but the broader industry must also adapt to remain competitive.

To that end, a few recommendations stand out. To begin with, invest in technology. Digital platforms should be intuitive and robust, allowing brokers and clients to access information and support seamlessly. Next, embrace flexibility. A one-size-fits-all approach is no longer viable, and tailoring solutions to meet the varying needs of brokers and their clients is essential. Finally, foster collaboration. Strengthening relationships across the entire deal chain—including solicitors—will be critical to reducing delays and improving outcomes.

Ultimately, the resurgence of personalised engagement, supported by the smart use of technology, marks a return to the values that underpin successful commercial finance: trust, understanding and collaboration. Challenger banks are proving that going back to basics is not a step backwards but a strategic move toward sustainable growth.

In a world that increasingly values both speed and authenticity, these practices will not only define the competitive edge but also shape the future of the industry.

Emma Ross

Underwriters on site: costs and benefits Embedding underwriters on-site has clear merits. Onsite underwriters gain a deeper insight into a broker’s operations, enabling tailored credit decisions. Regular face-to-face contact fosters trust and collaboration. Direct communication helps resolve queries quickly, reducing deal timelines.

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Interview

“CYCLES AREN’T WHAT THEY USED TO BE” As markets remain bumpy, lenders must stay close to the dynamics to spot opportunities before everyone else. Gareth Taylor, head of debt advisory at multi-family office Aprirose, looks at lending in a shifting landscape and what will shape debt demand this year

Photography by

ALEXANDER CHAI

Bridging & Commercial

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Gareth Taylor

Interview

What unique insights will you bring as the head of debt to fulfil this ambition?

As head of debt and a former lender, I have strong relationships across different types of lenders to suit a variety of investors and deals. We invest our own money, but we bring in partners and structure the whole deal, so knowing the best lenders for each deal is crucial to success for all parties.

Aprirose also has a strong track record in reading the market, looking at macro factors to help inform what we think will be the next trends in real estate. It’s why we looked at residential and industrial instead of offices before Covid, for example.

Our foresight into trends also helps us formulate a strategy for the right structure of a deal and what pricing we are happy with for debt. The collective experience, knowledge and diversity of the team through the cycle ensures we can put our insights and knowledge together to form credible strategies.

What is the secret to uncovering hidden gems in the market that others may overlook?

I don’t want to give away all the secrets, but the key thing is collaboration with an exceptional team to look at all factors. Having acquisition, transaction management, accounting, tax, debt and asset management all within the same business means we can look at the whole lifecycle of the asset—from the way we structure at acquisition to the way we’ll exit right at the beginning—which means we can take a view perhaps others don’t have the ability to do.

Also, the experience of the team is both vast and diverse. We don’t only have real estate professionals in the team; we have accountants, analysts, operational experts, capital-raising experts and those from other sectors such as retail, industrial, infrastructure and energy.

So we can apply that knowledge to real estate based on our innate understanding of the performance of businesses, not just property.

We understand that Aprirose is looking to double its AUM. What's driving this goal, and what timeline are you working with?

Aprirose has been investing in property for over 35 years with a strong track record. Having successfully followed our strategy to divest assets over the past 24 months—where we have made strong profits for ourselves and our co-investment partners—we are now looking to acquire properties where there are added value and asset management opportunities across different sectors.

Our hold period is short- to medium-term, about three- to five-years. We are very active and, because we have in-house teams that look after all aspects of a deal, we are able to take insightful decisions and see opportunities where others perhaps don’t. As such, we are keen to move quickly. This year will see some distress but also opportunities for nimble investors to make extraordinary returns, and we are very experienced at structuring the right deals and bringing in the right partners.

We feel that we are today at the trough of the market—or at least very close to it—and we see this as a good opportunity to re-enter certain asset classes.

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“You must remain close to the market as it is constantly evolving to try to spot opportunities before everyone else”

“As interest rates fall in 2025, debt will become a lot more compelling, and lenders will be keen to make the most of this”

Interview

How do you structure deals to mitigate risks while sourcing complex opportunities?

Very detailed property due diligence, operational due diligence and micro and macro analysis using the vast experience across the team.

This allows us to take a view on pricing and cost and ensures our outcome is in line with our strategy to do good deals for ourselves and our investment partners.

Our team of experienced experts also take notice of what our gut is telling us: property is a people business and experience shapes us to understand whether something is right or wrong.

Do you think changing economic cycles will affect these debt and funding trends?

Cycles aren’t really what they used to be. We are seeing more volatile bumpy markets which are prone to shocks, with some—like Covid-19— that no one can see coming. However, the intelligent investor who can see opportunities to add value in the longer term will still perform.

In terms of trends, the Autumn Budget impacts are to be seen but we imagine there will be some who have money to spend. Hopefully, it’ll be spent wisely and not just because it’s been a period of inertia.

There will be others who will struggle and may see distress and perhaps rethink their strategy altogether.

We are very good at bringing in Southeast Asian investors to the UK, as well as those from East Africa and the Middle East, and guiding them through this process and showing them the risks and rewards in opportunities. London is lucky because, despite everything, it is liquid, transparent and relatively secure. Despite Brexit, politics and high interest rates, property remains of interest to investors—they just need to pick their partners and advisers even more carefully to ensure correct guidance.

How do you deal with shifting market trends, such as hybrid work models that impact commercial property investment?

As a multi-family office, we can take decisions and adapt to the changing market more quickly than others. We also take a view of future trends by looking at the macros and applying our experience. This is why we decreased our interest in offices in 2019 and looked more closely at the affordable housing, industrial and hospitality sectors.

In hospitality, we have used established operating partners to run assets post-Covid, for example, so we learn at the same time. You must remain close to the market as it is constantly evolving to try to spot opportunities before everyone else.

What is your insight into lender behaviour over the past two years, particularly given the sizeable changes to the market?

What shifts have you observed in the debt and funding sector over the past year? Do you anticipate any change in 2025?

Aprirose has a large number of loans under management across a diverse range of lenders from high-street banks to private capital.

Given the dynamic landscape of rising interest rates and shifting capital values over the past couple of years, there have invariably been issues to deal with.

As a whole, lenders have generally been very supportive, with give and take on both sides to reach agreements, balancing the interests of both lenders and investors. This experience has highlighted the critical importance of supportive lending relationships and a deep understanding of the underlying real estate.

There has certainly been an increase in appetite to lend compared to 2023, but the difficulty has been the appetite to borrow in a high-interest rate environment, where it is hard to make debt funding accretive to returns. There has also been a flight to quality in terms of both acquisitions and debt, where yields have tightened for prime assets and debt margins have become very competitive.

On the flip side, it has become more difficult to fund more secondary assets even where there is a strong yield and asset management strategy. Many of the debt funds have lost their low-risk funding and have switched to a higher-priced, value-added lending proposition, which has catered for some of this imbalance.

As interest rates fall in 2025, debt will become a lot more compelling, and lenders will be keen to make the most of this. Although there will undoubtedly be headwinds, I am very optimistic about the debt funding market in 2025. This will be underpinned by real estate investor sentiment and how the wider UK economy adapts to challenges.

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Let us do the heavy lifting.

What crucial factors do you consider when working with bridging, commercial and development lenders?

I focus on aligning the loan's purpose with the right lender that can provide the ideal solution. Track record, liquidity, market expertise and speed of execution are vital—but, at the heart of it all, it’s about trust and strong relationships that work both ways.

What sets your firm apart from competitors?

Aprirose stands apart with a unique blend of experience, diverse talent, and sector expertise, offering a powerful perspective as a multi-family office. Our commitment to trust and loyalty drives us to prioritise long-term value over short-term gains.

We’ll never push a deal that isn’t built to last.

We’re the lender that simplifies property finance.

Do you anticipate a growing appetite for funding in 2025?

I think there will be an appetite to do deals in 2025 after two years of real stagnation. As interest rates decrease, it should spur borrowing activity, making debt funding more attractive for both businesses and investors.

I also believe there will be a rising demand for ESG-driven funding.

Borrowers may seek debt funding tied to environmental, social and governance initiatives, as investors and lenders continue to prioritise sustainability-focused projects.

Ultimately, the appetite for UK debt funding in 2025 will be shaped by a combination of economic conditions, sector-specific opportunities and evolving investor and borrower priorities.

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How business banking used to be, just better.

Find out more at allica.bank/introducers introducers@allica.bank | 0330 094 3333

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: 4th floor, 164 Bishopsgate, London EC2M 4LX. Registered in England and Wales with company number 07706156.

Interview

legal An unlikely

eagle Anastasia Ttofis doesn’t fit the typical image of a law firm CEO. Standing out in a traditionally conservative industry, her unconventional approach is exactly what the legal world needs. After witnessing clients' frustration with slow, opaque services, she revolutionised billing practices and harnessed AI to give the industry a much-needed makeover

Words by

DHUHA AL-ZAIDI Photography by

ALEXANDER CHAI

Bridging & Commercial

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Anastasia Ttofis

Interview

I

f you’re active on LinkedIn, you’ll know her by her candid posts: day-in-the-life vlogs, top mistakes made in her career, and how to appreciate your own body. Anastasia Ttofis, the personable CEO and co-founder of iLA—a law firm solely providing independent legal advice for the specialist lending market,—uses her platform to offer a fresh perspective on legal services and drive change in the industry.

What began as an intention to fill an apparent shortfall in the legal sector, which she describes as “really slow and riddled with old-fashioned hierarchies”, turned into a wider mission to modify traditional practices—and look cool while doing it.

If you’ve ever been told you don’t match the image of your role, then you can relate to Anastasia, who previously struggled to feel accepted at work. “I once had a partner say to me, ‘You're just a square peg in a round hole,’ and I thought, ‘I don't fit in here, do I?’ I had to cover up my tattoos and couldn't dress in a certain way,” she says.

Anastasia saw a growing demand for a service that was often slow and lacked transparency in pricing—and seized the opportunity to make a difference.“That was my motive to make a change in the industry, I saw something that was initially broken and turned it on its head,” she explains.

“When you’re new to business, you’re just really excited that anyone even wants to work with you. But, as we’ve grown, that’s something I’m not going to do any more because the biggest thing is people valuing us”

Bridging & Commercial

STAVING OFF THE CRITICS

Starting young at 28-years-old and burdened by student loan debt, Anastasia faced attitudes that only motivated her to succeed and prove conservative critics wrong. “People just laughed at me and said it was a stupid idea, that it was just never going to work. The senior lawyers were like, ‘You can't own your own law firm, you're too young.’ So my age was clearly an issue,” she says.

With big dreams and low funds, Anastasia took a leap of faith with her co-founder, Luke Baldwin, to secure a licence to become a regulated law firm. But the market response proved it was worth her while. “When we launched, people were like, ‘I wish I'd thought

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of that’, particularly brokers. Then winning Best Specialist Finance Partner at the B&C Awards last year was unreal. We had joked when we first started: ‘Imagine if one day we won an award, wouldn't that be funny?’ We [thought that was just for] huge industry names.”

NO SLOW GOING As Anastasia prepares to tap into emerging market trends in 2025, she notes a rise in bridging-related enquiries. “We've seen a lot more bridging providers approach us in the past six months or so.

We've also been able to tap into litigation funding markets, to help individuals understand their facilities for funding litigation claims.

That was a good opportunity for us to support consumers,” she notes.

She highlights two common issues among fellow lawyers: communication and speed—something she claims iLA tackles efficiently.

“Often you hear that lawyers are slow and they never reply. That is something that we go out of our way to ensure we avoid, by using tech and integration to guarantee a point of contact and response for everybody at any time of the day,” she says.

This modern approach comes as part of Anastasia’s commitment to anticipate the change the industry needs, but the struggle continues.

“There are wider issues that affect lawyers’ work ethic. It’s hard and lawyers are probably heavily overworked and on the edge of targets, billable hours and burnout,” she adds.

NO TO NEGATIVE PARTNERS As part of a self-promise to avoid industry fatigue, Anastasia enforces strict boundaries when selecting who she wants to work with. “When you're new to business, you're just really excited that anyone even wants to work with you. But, as we've grown, that's something I'm not going to do any more because the biggest thing is people valuing us,” she explains.

Anastasia shares how some tension and disagreements led to this realisation and aims to defuse problems moving forward. “I don't want to put myself in that position again. I'm not here to be spoken to poorly and I won't tolerate it—my business doesn’t operate like that,” she says.

“My desire is to work with people who want us to solve problems together and want to grow with us. iLA will launch its mailer this month and will target nearly 10,000 people in property. Our partners can benefit from that database and events and the great service that

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“PEOPLE THINK THAT BECAUSE YOU WORK LESS, IT MUST MEAN YOU’RE ACHIEVING LESS, AND THEY DON’T WANT TO LISTEN. I’M ACHIEVING JUST AS MUCH AND WE’RE COVERING JUST AS MUCH GROUND—BUT I’M JUST BEING CLEVER ABOUT IT”

Interview

for a certain task and use tech and speed to continue staying ahead of that. I think other firms will struggle to do that so we keep that competitive advantage,” she says.

Clients now routinely expect fast and efficient services, and this is one thing that Anastasia stresses.

Leading a fresh startup in the industry, like many, Anastasia was exhausted by long working hours. Now, the entrepreneur emphasises the need for freedom from work and enjoying time with loved ones.

“I didn't want to be working 20-hour days any more and not being present with people. It’s your entire life because it's essentially your baby, so it can be all-consuming. It's a drain on my time and my energy,” she shares.

Though it can be motivational, Anastasia points out that social media can be detrimental to self-esteem and cause unnecessary pressure because of “hustle culture”. She says you need to be confident in yourself that you’re on the right track. “I mentor some brokers, and they'll mention replying to a message at night and I'm like, ‘Whoa! How about we put some automated responses in here instead?’ That’s been a huge catalyst for their further growth because they're able to have their time freedom, do what they want to do and be happy because, fundamentally, they're miserable working 24/7.”

She challenges outdated perceptions of productivity and reiterates the need to set boundaries to prosper.

“People think that because you work less, it must mean you're achieving less, and they don't want to listen. I'm achieving just as much and we're covering just as much ground—but I'm just being clever about it,” she adds.

we provide. As a firm that doesn’t pay or accept referral fees, we’re not hell-bent on making a quick quid—we're more interested in the wider partnerships and what we can offer you as an individual.”

For Anastasia, an ethical approach will bring long-term benefits. “I strongly believe there are a lot of people in the industry who will just turn a blind eye to things that happen. I think my stance is better—those who support iLA will be genuine because they know we won't tolerate certain behaviour”, she says.

She adds: “We have a brand representation that's just good people doing honest business, acting with integrity, and being kind to others.

I can sleep easy and can run my business well because I know that I do things right.”

“I can sleep easy and can run my business well because I know that I do things right”

EARLY WITH AI Like other tech enthusiasts in the legal and specialist finance industry, Anastasia praises AI and its ability to support iLA’s fast services—a feature she claims distinguished the firm from others from the very start.

Three years ago, Anastasia was designing the firm’s website herself.

Now, she is assisted by platforms such as ChatGPT and AI-run online appointment bookings that move at a “very fast trajectory”.

“When we launched, things that were taking solicitors two days to complete took us two hours. We also have Max Bryden, our chief innovation and AI officer, who focuses solely on AI integration and coding. For example, when we're sorting through data, we can extract information that other people might struggle to do because we use AI,” she states.

The firm’s integration of AI has shaped the way it charges clients, away from the standard hourly billing. “Many law firms will fall behind in this next wave of tech, because their current model of billable hours is threatened by tech. It's not on value-based pricing—putting a value on the task rather than time.” We can easily systemise a price

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FISHING VERSUS CONTROL FREAKERY Anastasia’s “wild-spirited” persona extends beyond the scope of her work. The lawyer has a newfound love of fishing, thanks to the influence of her partner and colleague Max. But what started as a leisurely activity turned into a lesson on the reality of life. “You don't know what you're going to catch and that's taught me that, as a business owner, you can’t control everything,” she says.

“In our society, we try to control so many things. If I want to order something, it arrives in my office the next day. I cannot order specific fish that I want from the sea. Nature cannot give me anything—it doesn't recognise how much money I've got. It's about just accepting what it gives me, and I can take this into the business,” she adds.

Getting where she is now has not been easy and Anastasia places importance on wellbeing and rewarding your hard work: “I remember posting on social media about all the jobs I've had before I got here, and it went down like a lead balloon because people didn't want to hear that it's not been an overnight success. They love the posts that glamourise becoming a millionaire overnight. It's just not true—it's taken various sacrifices for so many years. When I was a trainee solicitor while doing my master’s, I worked at a hotel.”

Now an established lawyer, Anastasia shifts her focus to what truly aligns with her values. “I look back as I get older and there's sadness. I wasn't present for many of my friends,” she recalls. “I think it’s inspired me to create this life where I enjoy it for what it is because I don't want to get to 60 and realise I wasn't there with people when I should have been.”

After a journey marked by perseverance, Anastasia encourages people to tap into their personal strengths. “Learn to trust yourself and really tap into your own strengths. As women, some of our biggest strengths are intuition and inner power,” she says.

“All of us, whether man or woman, often focus on what we lack.

So, focus on what you have. We hear, ‘This is how things have always been done, and that's how you must do it’. If I listened to that, I wouldn't be sat here now.”

“All of us, whether man or woman, often focus on what we lack. So, focus on what you have. We hear, ‘This is how things have always been done, and that’s how you must do it’. If I listened to that, I wouldn’t be sat here now”

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Financial freedom doesn’t start with cash—it begins with education. Schools must prioritise teaching about money, which could support future economic growth as well as inform and smooth relationships between borrowers, brokers and lenders

Words by

MATTHEW SHEPHERD CCO at Skipton Business Finance

Bridging & Commercial

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charity WizeUp. At present, it’s organisations such as this that are shouldering the vast majority of the burden in trying to ensure the fortunes of the latest generation of secondary school students.

During the 2023–2024 academic year, the charity delivered financial literacy sessions in 181 schools in England, including young adults with special educational needs and disabilities.

For example, a financial education workshop at Hall Cross Academy in Doncaster aimed to help n the UK, almost half (48%) of 18–24-year-olds students understand the importance of saving are currently in debt, and over 20 million adults and to recognise that investing is a long-term lack confidence in managing their money. process rather than a quick profit strategy.

Almost 10 million adults lack the confidence The first workshop covered several saving to make financial decisions, highlighting a methods, including ISAs, regular savers, significant gap in effective financial education premium bonds, and round-up applications. across the country.

The sessions also helped students to understand To equip young people with the tools they and express their risk appetite based on advice need to succeed financially, I believe it’s crucial provided in the workshop. to make learning about money and how to While the subject matter may seem dry, manage it well a mandatory part of secondary once it is put into a real-life context—when education. While finance is already included in the curriculum, it’s buying a car or a house or starting up a business clear that more comprehensive and practical instruction is required. is presented as a game of “How will you pay?”—the process is brought to life and real In theory, not applied engagement with students is created.

As Baroness Sater noted in the House of Lords, there is a significant T h i s k i nd of relev a nt , i n for me d approach needs to be difference between having a mathematical delivered by financial and knowledge of finance educational experts to close and truly understanding a k nowledge gap that is how to manage money hampering the monetary ef fec t ively. Wh i le wellbeing of millions of former minister for lives across the UK. schools Nick Gibb Without such education, emphasised the we’ll keep on churning out importance of strong hundreds of thousands of mathematics skills, school leavers every year, it’s equally vital to many of them with great provide students with qualifications but with little real-world financial or no idea of how finance knowledge and works. practical skills.

Yet, with just a little bit of Skipton Business collaboration, we can set the Finance is a partner of bar at the right level so that the financial education this and future generations,

“GIVING SCHOOL STUDENTS THE TOOLS TO UNDERSTAND AND MAKE BETTER FINANCIAL DECISIONS FOR THEMSELVES WILL ALSO HELP THEM MUSTER AN ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT—IT WILL GIVE THEM THE CONFIDENCE THEY NEED TO SUCCEED” 91

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leave school armed with not just their GCSEs and A-levels but also a level of financial savviness that will support the demands of life beyond school.

Beyond school

As a leader in the sector, I feel we (Skipton Business Finance) hold a certain level of responsibility to help raise awareness of good financial education for the current and future generations. In particular, we need to ensure this translates into aspiring entrepreneurs and future company owners of the UK being able Mandatory financial education could help to bridge this gap by to draw up well-informed, healthy business challenging the myth that specialist loans are complex or daunting, management plans; no doubt, they will need in turn leading to better-informed choices. This will boost the to seek some form of support with finances confidence of both borrowers and lenders. In addition, customers for their venture. with a good understanding are more likely to engage with lenders and Giving school students the tools to brokers and are able to recognise options that align with their needs. understand and make better financial decisions for themselves will also help them muster an Expertise in employees entrepreneurial spirit—it will give them the Hiring young people who already understand the basics of their field confidence they need to succeed. and can be trained further is a strategic approach that benefits both the employee and the employer. Young professionals bring fresh Benefits for business finance perspectives, adaptability, and enthusiasm to the workplace, which A more financially educated nation could are invaluable in a fast-paced business environment. also have a hugely positive impact on the When young people enter the workforce with these skills, they business finance sector itself. In a world are better prepared to understand and contribute to the financial where money management drives personal and goals of a business. For employers, this means hiring candidates corporate decision-making, it’s surprising how who require less initial training and can quickly adapt to the sector's little formal training most people receive on demands. By prioritising financial education in schools, we can create these critical skills. By embedding financial a talent pipeline that meets industry standards and drives innovation education into the curriculum, businesses and long-term growth in the business finance sector. and individuals stand to gain transformative Most importantly, good general knowledge of finance management benefits. among employees sends a powerful signal to the market. It For businesses, the ripple effect begins demonstrates that a company prioritises precision and expertise with a workforce that is better trained in and sets it apart in an increasingly competitive industry. understanding financial principles. Employees equipped with financial literacy make more informed decisions, from budgeting and forecasting to analysing investment opportunities.

Specialist finance often caters to individuals or businesses with unique circumstances, such as imperfect credit histories, unconventional income streams or more specific borrowing needs, such as asset-based lending. These borrowers are often less familiar with the nuances of specialist finance, leading to misinformed decisions or scepticism about the lending process.

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billion-pounds in lending, despite only receiving its banking licence in 2023.

I visit its sleek new headquarters in Cardiff to get an inside look at what drives the company and how it plans to meet its ambitious targets

Words by

DHUHA AL-ZAIDI

aking waves

StreamBank plans to reach half-a-

F

One Day

or the first time ever, I find myself excited to leave for a bank appointment on a foggy, wet morning. Only this time, I divert from my usual route in London and hop on the train to Cardiff—I’m heading to StreamBank’s new office.

This recently established specialist bank, which gained its banking licence only in 2023, is celebrating hitting profitability for its first year – and its move into a sleek new HQ. I’m off to get the lowdown behind all this.

Two-and-a-half hours later, I’m standing in front of the modernised Capital Tower and make my way to its office on the 23rd floor. My first impression is instantly positive. I find myself thinking—if the weather was miserable outside, this office has no idea.

Rows of wide windows surround the entire f loor and overlook the admirable Cardiff horizon—the city centre, ancient castles and the stadium.

As Richard Armstrong, CCO, and Roz Cawood, managing director of property finance, give me a welcome tour, I quickly notice the open-plan set-up, a deliberate move to encourage teamwork and collaboration. Team members are leaning across to work with colleagues, with each desk as productive as the next.

I’m told six additions to the company started the day before my arrival, some hired locally, across seven teams.

“We picked Cardiff in the first place because there are a lot of financial services businesses there in banking and insurance and, just across the financial services space, there's a strong talent pool,” says Richard.

Amid the green office reflecting the company branding, with celebration balloons and snack platters in the kitchen, I head to the ribbon-cutting ceremony, led by Mike Kirsopp, CEO, and Alex Pusco, founder, owner and non-executive director, to mark the official office move.

“This is our home, and we own it. This is where we’ll be together and comfortable, and where we’ll start the journey to the next stage,” Mike tells the assembled team.

“Our goal is to swiftly get to half a billion,” announces Alex.

Someone blows a whistle from a corner of the room.

“This office is part of the plan to give an active environment for an active start-up,” Alex continues. “This is a start-up, just to be clear. That’s the mindset.” A round of applause follows, as Alex cuts a long, ruby-coloured ribbon.

From what I observe, comfort was integral to the new HQ, and the sight of active participation by the team members puts solitary remote working to shame. Once I’ve made myself familiar with my surroundings, I sit with Roz and Richard, who share their intentions behind the move and goals for the year ahead.

“This is our home, and we own it.

This is where we’ll be together and comfortable, and where we’ll start the journey to the next stage”

Bridging & Commercial

FINAL PIECE OF THE PUZZLE

“Two years ago, [we were] trying to tell someone we were going to be a business that does this and that—it was quite hard for people to take that leap of faith. We've now proven that we've got a great office and having others seeing how well we're doing will continue to make us that attractive option for people,” says Richard.

The company now totals roughly 45 members, up from the previous 30 who occupied smaller premises.

A total of seven additions to the team were recruited in January as part of their growth plans.

“It just feels like we're a proper bank—a proper company, and it's almost like the last piece of the puzzle to establishing ourselves,” says Roz. Being at the forefront of client services and collaboration appears to be a core value here. “Although we have great technology and that does more of the heavy lifting in some of our processing, we have always said we'll be a people-led business”, says Richard.

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“What we've done so far has hit our targets and what we wanted to achieve, but we know there's so much more. We've not saturated anything, so the opportunity to grow is there—that's the really exciting thing for 2025,” he adds.

LONG WAIT FOR LOWER RATES A new year also brings new challenges. To give one example, millions of borrowers are set to face payment shocks as low fixed-rate deals end this year. StreamBank is preparing to address these problems head-on and remain attentive to consumer needs.

“We're finding that people aren't jumping into the next fixed rate quite so quickly, so they're taking time. A lot of them are trying to anticipate what the market might look like, and what we found as well is we've had a couple of base rate cuts but the swap rates have been going in a different direction. We haven't necessarily seen the lower fixed rates that people have come to expect,” says Roz. “We’ve had some people wanting to bridge, hoping that the rates will be lower in the future and that they can then move on to it.

This appears to cause a delay in some people making decisions and, actually, bridging has filled that gap [so] they can still continue to do what they need to do, but not necessarily fixed in,” states Roz.

PRODUCTS AND PORTFOLIOS DIVERSIFY She advises brokers to act on emerging trends and tailor their services to remain competitive. “The days of just being a mortgage broker or a specialist broker are over. It's time for everybody to realise that there are lots of products that they should be advising on,” she says.

“If your focus is just too narrow, you’re potentially losing that customer to someone else that can offer everything. As bridging has become more mainstream, it's something that everybody needs to be aware of and how it can potentially work with the client in the right situation,” she adds.

For Richard, unpredictable political affairs and fluctuating swap rates will prove prevalent in 2025. “When a headwind comes, you'll see some competitors in the market move away from it and, if they do, there's always an opportunity. So, it's understanding and being close to it,” he comments.

“I do see that it's going to be an ever-changing environment—it will probably start relatively sluggish in Q1 but then I'm hoping, by the end of this year, we’ll have a bit of a rebound. Probably the opposite of what we saw in 2024,” he adds.

In the property landscape, some landlord exits have resulted in undervalued opportunities in certain regions. “We are seeing a lot of landlords selling up and coming out of their portfolios, and that presents opportunities for investors to buy them, not just under value but also maybe to add value to them and refurbish. We're seeing a lot of investors going into commercial properties to diversify their portfolio,” says Roz. Roz stays attuned to evolving trends and bears two solutions in mind: “We can look at, say, an undervalue if somebody is selling their portfolio and they're doing it at a discount, and we have one calculation for doing that.

She adds: “We have another way of doing it if it's like a gift of a deposit or a family sale under value. Our ethos has always been to look at every deal on an individual basis. So it’s understanding the story, what's going on, then we can structure the deal so that it works.”

Richard Armstrong

“We’ve now proven that we’ve got a great office and having others seeing how well we’re doing will continue to make us that attractive option for people”

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This year, Roz foresees a “go-getter” mindset and anticipates an uptick in demand in certain sectors: “What we'll see a lot of this year is people thinking, ‘OK, we're going to do it’. That's probably a lot of things like refurbishment and adding value to existing properties, whether it be for sale or for investment purposes.

We're also going to see a lot more commercial to residential.

We're going to see landlords thinking the way that it sits with tax position and everything else. They'll be looking at HMOs as opposed to individual properties. There's still a high demand for rental in London, especially. It’s fair to say that bridging is an opportunity enabler. Nobody will speak to their broker or adviser and say, ‘I want to bridge’. They'll say, ‘I'm looking to purchase or develop this property’…so bridging steps in to stop the deals falling through,” she adds.

“The days of just being a mortgage broker or a specialist broker are over.

CLOSE TO THE BROKERS The atmosphere is one of dedication and commitment. To truly get It’s time for everybody a sense of what it’s like to be a part of the team that helped reach milestones at such an early stage, I speak to some of the driving to realise that there are forces leading StreamBank to these destinations.

“No two days are ever the same,” says Julia DeBattista, a senior lots of products that they underwriter. Having been in the mortgage industry for nearly three decades, as both an underwriter and a broker, Julia is four months should be advising on” into her role at StreamBank.

“What's really exciting about working here is that [StreamBank] is really open to thinking outside of the box. We're quite empowered to really discuss the cases on an individual level with the brokers,” she explains.

Julia is one of the people leading the loan enquiries and collaborating with advisers to understand the customer’s proposition. “Talking to the broker is really key. You can only get so much from a written application form, so being able to pick up the phone and communicate is something that’s also emphasised here,” she adds.

Directing the bank’s friendly customer services is operations manager Stephen Williams, who was directly involved in facilitating the office move. Having been at the company for more than two years—before its launch as a bank—Stephen says progression has been positive. “Our products did really well from day one. We are a start-up and obviously a new bank, so we have peaks throughout the year in savings. When we want to go out to market and get a certain amount of money into the bank, we’ll launch a particular product that will be towards the top of the best-buy tables. That drives a lot of volume in,” he notes.

Stephen says customers acknowledge his team’s professional service. “We are finding customers are saying, ‘You're not top of the table, but I'm going to reinvest with you because you deliver great service’. They can speak to somebody who responds to their messages very quickly whereas, with other banks or building societies, not so. There are four customer care consultants and their manner and the way they speak to customers is first class.”

Richard reminds me that investments have been made in their people, a “drip-feeding” strategy that aligns with their business model. Mike affirms the addition of three more BDMs, from just two in the past 12 months. “Our current balance sheet is healthy and where we wanted it to be at about £180m. Alex is talking about £500m worth of lending in short order. What we know is we've got the capital; we've invested in the people. We've got a new home from which to do it, so now it’s take-off time,” he says.

Two notable mentions are Jamie Smith, who headed StreamBank’s business in the North in April last year, as well as second-day newbie Aiman Maklad, who will direct their London and South East sales.

Bridging & Commercial

Roz Cawood

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One Day

The two share the same sentiment for joining the bank, with both hoping to contribute to a fast-growing specialist lender with huge potential. “I’ve worked at a few lenders and, for me, the opportunity was to come [and work] with Roz,” says Aiman.

“She's someone well-known in this industry. I also feel like what is being offered here is competitive.

They have a number of different products that are exciting for me to try to get involved in.”

Both Aiman and Jamie will commit to visiting the office at least once a month and are ready to get their hands on business and form crucial relationships across the UK. “From a team perspective, just walking around, you can sense the vibe. Everyone's looking forward to coming into the office and, when you've got that energy, it obviously makes a big impact on the way people work together and get stuff done,” says Jamie.

“I think clients will take us more seriously when they see the environment that we're in,” Aiman adds.

Stephen Williams and Julia DeBattista

With more announcements and products to come, StreamBank feels well-prepared to navigate around obstacles in 2025.

“From a pricing point of view, if there are any movements in the market, we won't just sit on the price that we've got and refuse to move,” says Richard. “We'll always look for the opportunity and we will always come into the market with a product that will suit that.”

Roz adds: “[Our] people have got lots of banking and lending experience, and that contributes massively to how we've been able to achieve what we've achieved so far—that’s definitely something that sets us apart.”

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE NUMBERS Curious to learn more about StreamBank’s goal to reach halfa-billion-pounds in the next few years, I ask Alex how they hope to achieve it. “There are two things we need to achieve half a billion: we need the right capital; we’re working on it, and we're not far off. What we also need is the right structure. We are almost there, and then we can increase the sales force,” he explains.

“In bridging loans, it's very dangerous if your sales targets are too aggressive and then you cannot deliver. So, before we go out there and shout and say, ‘Let’s take bigger deals’, we must be sure that everything works on the back end.”

“Talking to the broker is really key. You can only get so much from a written application form, so being able to pick up the phone and communicate is something that’s also emphasised here” 99

Jan/Feb 2025

Feature

A reflection on

45 s r a ye in bridging

As the founder of some of the sector’s earliest players, Martyn Smith shares insights on the transformation of the bridging market, the key to being an effective loan provider, and why he believes the market could double in size over the next decade

Words by

MARTYN SMITH Managing director at Black & White Bridging

W

hen I began my specialist finance career in 1979, the UK was a vastly different place. Margaret Thatcher had just come into power and the country was in the midst of profound economic and social upheaval. Industrial unrest was widespread, power cuts were a regular occurrence, and trade union disputes dominated the headlines. It was a time of difficulties but also opportunities.

Against this backdrop, my father and I embarked on a journey that would, ultimately, lead to the creation of something new—dedicated bridging lending. Today, as managing director at Black & White Bridging, I’m taking a moment to reflect on the journey of the past 45 years and share some thoughts on where we’ve been and where we’re going.

UNCHARTED TERRITORY In the late 1970s, the concept of bridging finance was virtually unheard of in the UK. It was an uncharted market with no clear road map or established players. And that’s precisely what made it so exciting. With the support of the Bank of Isle of Man, we established one of the first bridging and finance companies in the UK. Lending at that time was purely asset-based and non-status. This was a bold move, especially given the economic volatility of the era, but it was also an innovative approach that laid the groundwork for what bridging finance has become today.

The idea was simple but powerful: provide fast, flexible loans secured against assets, unburdened by the constraints of traditional lending criteria. For property investors and developers, this was a game changer. Bridging finance offered them a tool to act quickly and decisively in a market where timing is often everything.

It wasn’t just about filling a gap—it was about creating a product that

Feature

genuinely met a need. That’s what drew me to the industry, and it’s what has kept me passionate about it for all these years. In 2000, bridging enabled me to IPO Bristol and West Investments PLC, later known as bridgingloans.com.

HONESTY: IT’S PERSONAL The journey hasn’t been without its challenges. In the 1980s and 1990s, bridging finance often struggled with a cowboy reputation. Some operators prioritised quick profits over long-term trust, and that created a stigma that took years to shake off. For me, it became a personal mission to change perceptions and build something better.

That’s why I founded Bath & West Finance after the first company was sold, which has since evolved into Black & White Bridging.

Our new name reflects the same traditional values as Bath & West, but with a modern twist: transparency, honesty and clarity. Every contract and policy is straightforward, and we hold ourselves to the highest standards.

We wanted to show that bridging could be a legitimate, ethical and professional option for borrowers. The fact that we’ve been able to expand the business by opening two offices in Manchester and London in 2024, a year when many have struggled, is testament to the foundations laid by both companies and the hard work by the team to provide our truly transparent lending with no grey areas.

TRUST BEYOND TRANSACTIONS After 45 years in the industry, I’ve learned a thing or two about what it takes to succeed.

For brokers, my advice is simple: understand your customers and your lender’s products.

Respect and mutual understanding go a long way. The brokers who genuinely care about their clients, who take the time to build strong relationships with lenders, are the ones who thrive in the long run. This isn’t just about transactions; it’s about trust.

For lenders, the message is just as clear: transparency and trust are everything. Build a reputation as a company that brokers and borrowers can rely on. Be upfront and honest in your dealings, criteria and communications, and invest in relationships with your funding partners. Nothing erodes confidence faster than a lack of clarity or reliability. If you can establish yourself as a trustworthy and transparent lender, you’ll build the kind of loyalty that stands the test of time, through good and bad.

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COLLABORATION, CREATIVITY—AND CALM? As I look to the future, I’m optimistic about the continued growth and evolution of the bridging market. Since 2006, the market has grown tenfold, and I believe it could double in the next decade. More borrowers are recognising the value of bridging finance, not as a last resort but as a strategic tool. This shift in perception is exciting and points to a bright future for the industry. If 2024 is anything to go by, then the future certainly is bright.

I also expect to see increased regulation and the emergence of new trade bodies.

While I don’t anticipate mainstream banks re-entering the sector directly, I do see potential for partnerships between banks and established bridging companies. Collaboration could unlock new opportunities and further professionalise the market.

On my personal wish list for the future, stability ranks high. The property market and the political landscape have seen more than their fair share of upheaval in recent years. A period of calm would do wonders for the industry and give borrowers, brokers and lenders alike the confidence to plan and innovate. Speaking of innovation, I believe it’s crucial for the industry to continue evolving to meet the changing needs of borrowers. Collaboration, creativity and a willingness to adapt will be key to staying relevant and effective.

FUNDAMENTAL ENDURE One of the things I’ve always loved about bridging finance is its simplicity. At its core, it’s about lending against an asset and ensuring repayment. That straightforward approach is what makes it so resilient and effective. Even as the industry evolves, those fundamentals remain unchanged. They are the foundation upon which everything else is built.

As we continue to grow Black & White Bridging, those core principles—transparency, trust and innovation—will remain central to our ethos. We’ve come a long way since 1979, but I believe the best is yet to come. The bridging market has a rich legacy and I’m proud to have played a role in its development. More importantly, I’m excited about what’s ahead. With the right values and a commitment to excellence, I’m confident that bridging finance will continue to be a vital, dynamic and rewarding industry for many years to come.

Jan/Feb 2025

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e h t g n i Boost l a n o i s s profe landlord s s e n i s u b Words by

GATE T S A E N H JO k dB CCO at Redwoo

an

Feature

As the work of large investors and landlords becomes more complex, specialist lenders rise to this, offering tailored expertise amid tricky markets. Here, decades of experience are drawn on to explain how specialists offer a service that mainstream banks simply cannot match

W

it h over 3 0 yea rs’ experience in retail banking and commercial lending, nearly 20 years of that spent helping property investors and landlords navigate an ever-changing financial landscape, I have seen the market evolve and adapt to economic, regulatory and societal pressures.

Every investor or landlord has their own personal story, and it is likely that it will include them being chronically underserved at some point. The specialist market emerged after the financial crisis to serve the underserved, and the term specialist bank is now commonplace—but what does it truly mean?

For me, it means providing expertise, tailored solutions and a hands-on approach that mainstream lenders often cannot match. It’s about recognising that every property investor and landlord has unique needs—and responding accordingly. In other words, we’re specialist because we meet specialist customer needs, not because we choose to apply a label.

The BTL market is a case in point. What began as a relatively straightforward sector in the late 1990s has transformed into a highly professionalised arena. Regulatory changes, such as tighter stress testing and mortgage interest tax relief reform, alongside rising interest rates, have significantly raised the bar for investors. Smaller landlords have left the scene, but professional investors—those with larger, more complex portfolios— remain resilient. These landlords flexed their business model to weather the changes. In diversifying their investments to improve yields and profitability, they redefined the term specialist.

Complex BTL and tight yields This is where truly specialist lenders come in.

At Redwood, we serve professional landlords who are developing their business models and navigating this new landscape, whether they’re investing in HMOs, multi-unit properties and semi-commercial buildings, or managing assets under complex ownership structures such as special purpose vehicles, trusts or SIPPs. For these investors, one-sizefits-all lending simply doesn’t work. The role of a specialist bank is to bring a level of understanding and flexibility that allows professional landlords to thrive, even when the broader market faces challenges.

The challenges landlords face today are numerous but they are not insurmountable. For example, elevated interest rates and changes in SDLT and its thresholds placed immense pressure on landlords’ returns over the past two years. While this understandably caused frustration among investors, professional landlords tend to take a pragmatic, long-term view. These additional costs are often passed on through higher rents, and this has been the case since the broader tax changes of 2016. Fundamentally, the UK housing market continues to be underpinned by strong demand, driven by a combination of housing shortages, population growth and difficulties in affording a mortgage. For landlords with a long-term perspective, these short-term costs can be seen as relatively insignificant.

Adversity makes you stronger, and landlords looking to maintain or improve yields have found higher-yielding opportunities, such as larger HMOs, multi-use properties and semi-commercial assets. Recognising this shift, specialist lenders have adapted their offerings, focusing on ways to help investors improve their leverage and manage their costs.

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“The role of a specialist bank is to bring a level of understanding and flexibility that allows professional landlords to thrive, even when the broader market faces challenges”

Jan/Feb 2025

Feature

For example, we introduced our alternative fee product, which allows landlords to pay a higher arrangement fee in return for a lower fixed rate. For landlords in regions such as the South East, where yields are traditionally tighter, this has provided a crucial means to increase borrowing capacity and unlock further opportunities.

Promise in community care One area that has seen significant growth recently is the demand for homes leased to not-for-profit and governmental bodies for housing vulnerable young people and adults. These leases, often set for three- to five- years and offering above-market rent figures, present promising opportunities for landlords.

For specialist lenders, flexibility is key.

They can evaluate these deals on residential terms, using market rents, or consider them on commercial terms, using the strength of the care company’s trading business to support affordability. The right approach depends on the investor’s goals, and this is where collaboration with brokers becomes particularly valuable. By working closely with brokers and landlords, banks can identify the most appropriate solution for each case—whether that’s higher LTVs, longer interest-only periods or lower monthly costs.

Being a specialist lender is about more than just the products offered. It’s about working with landlords and brokers to deliver tailored solutions. Brokers play a critical role in this market, bringing expertise and insight to match landlords with the right lender.

At Redwood, it is these relationships that we value immensely.

“Brokers play a critical role in this market, bringing expertise and insight to match landlords with the right lender” Bridging & Commercial

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According to the National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers (NACFB), most of the lending facilitated through its members now comes from challenger and specialist banks—a clear indication of how crucial this partnership has become. Brokers trust specialist lenders to deliver secured lending for their clients where others cannot, whether it’s taking the time to understand the long-term prospects of a firm with a holder director and its succession plan, or an organisation with a complex ownership structure or a large-scale HMO investment.

Where to find growth Looking ahead, problems in the specialist BTL market will remain, especially with the expectation that interest rates will reduce more gently during 2025 than previously anticipated. The resilience and ingenuity shown by professional landlords in recent years have been impressive, and this innovation will continue. Specialist lenders and brokers will need to work together to also bring in new ideas to keep pace with our business customers.

Opportunities for growth will continue even in tough economic circumstances; demand for private rented accommodation will remain even if the new housebuilding targets are met by the government. Regions such as the North of England, where yields remain attractive, and cities such as Birmingham, buoyed by projects like HS2, are likely to see increased investment activity.

At the same time, the market has an opportunity to position itself as a positive force for society and the environment. Energy efficiency remains a pressing concern and, while EPC regulations are far from perfect, they highlight the role landlords can play in supporting the green economy. With the right incentives and a more coherent housing policy, property investors could make a significant impact on reducing the UK’s energy consumption. This is an area where forward-thinking landlords will find opportunities to improve their assets while delivering tangible benefits for tenants and society at large.

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Offa enthrone UK Islamic fin in conversation

ned in nance

Left to right: Sagheer Malik, Sultan Choudhry and Amir Firdaus

Words by

DHUHA AL-ZAIDI Photography by

ALEXANDER CHAI

I

n early December, Islamic property finance provider Offa structured the acquisition

of

a

sharia-compliant,

regulated UK book—specifically, the Alburaq home finance portfolio from the Bank of Ireland, which holds over

350 plans. This milestone is just one part of Offa’s ambitious mission to reshape perceptions of Islamic finance, transforming it from a ‘slow’, niche option into a fast, flexible solution integrated into the mainstream market.

I sit down with Sultan Choudhury, executive chairman; Sagheer Malik, CCO and managing director of retail finance; and Amir Firdaus, CFO, to discuss how their team of 30 is driving innovation, upcoming 2025 announcements, and why they named their company after an Anglo-Saxon king.

In Conversation

Dhuha Al-Zaidi: What are the common misconceptions of sharia-compliant financing that you'd like to dispel?

Sultan Choudhury: If you're not familiar

with Islamic finance, you’d think it's a purely religious form of financing. However, it's based on values underpinning the religion of Islam, which are very much universal values.

One of the things that some people have heard of is Islam doesn't allow interest. That’s correct, but what it means is we don't lend, and we don't borrow—lending in terms of giving cash and charging something on top of that cash. What we do is we enter a contract that embodies co-ownership and joint risk-and-reward sharing.

Our BTL product is based on co-ownership. We buy the product together and, for the elements that the customer doesn't own, the part Offa owns—we lease that element and get rent. The customer then acquires a property over time, from Offa, making monthly payments. When you explain that to people, they recognise that this is a fundamentally different contract.

Some people have said: “Interest-free means cost-free.” It's not the case. That's a big misconception among Muslims. But, for non-Muslims, it's just like, “What is this esoteric subject?” and, when we explain it, I think it makes sense.

A lot of non-Muslims think it's for Muslims only, but about 44% of our customers on the bridging side are not Muslims. So, they're attracted to these ethical principles.

The prohibition of interest embodies a lot of social justice. If you expanded that, if nobody charged interest, the world would be a better place. But, on a practical level, we don't lend money and people who fund us know this well. It's really important for them [that we are not involved in] what I call unethical activities in the economy—production of alcohol, establishments that serve alcohol, gambling institutions and so on.

There's a bunch of ethical screening criteria when we finance and that attracts non-Muslims. If non-Muslims are aware of that, they think: “OK, that's actually good as well, they've got some values.” So those are the two big misconceptions that we try to educate people on.

It’s been successful in the UK, but it could do far more with more publicity to educate people—both Muslims on how it works and non-Muslims on that it's finance for everybody. It's based on universal values.

Sagheer Malik: There is, in some ways, a

view of Islamic finance, that it has a reputation of having poor service and being slow, which is one of the reasons why we've launched—to fix that misconception [and show] that Islamic finance can be done in a modern way.

DA: What are the positives of using Islamic finance in the property sector?

SC: The number one benefit is actually inclu-

sivity. It's brought people into property finance who may not have participated—and that's a key point. If you think about the Muslim population, that’s roughly 6.5% of the UK, depending on which numbers you look at.

It’s a significant number in urban populations with a lot of property transactions going on.

A number of people would be excluding themselves if there were no sharia-compliant options. It brings more investors into the market, allowing more people to own their own homes.

The prohibition of interest Beyond that, Islamic finance for the UK, embodies a lot of social justice… in a wider sense, if nobody charged interest, the attracts what we call foreign direct world would be a better place” investment into the UK. The Shard, in London, is a good example. That was financed with money from Qatar, Islamically. There are a number of tall buildings in Birmingham that were financed by Kuwaitis. It’s brought an injection into the property sector from outside. Not only is it inclusive for Muslims living here—it’s also brought in foreign capital flows. Another example is the Malaysians did Battersea Power Station. You've got to think it's been a real boost for the property sector in the UK with these massive statement projects, but also, at the fundamental level, there's the stuff that Offa does. We're helping people become property investors through our BTL offering or our bridging products via auction, so they can buy a building and develop or refurbish it.

I think the other benefit of our Islamic finance product—and I think Sagheer will come in and expand on this—is that we can say, from having worked in the traditional Islamic finance sector, that the processes had 111

Jan/Feb 2025

In Conversation

become a bit cumbersome. A bit slow because of not enough investment in technology, and maybe not enough deep understanding of what customers want. Ultimately, what are we tackling? We're tackling disadvantages, like not having accessible products in the market: “Oh, there is a product in the market, but I've got to go through loops and hoops to get there.”We've now, as a team, tried to dismantle obstacles, like excessive paperwork, to provide quick and fair finance decisions. As a proposition person, that means Muslims get a level playing field and a better experience, and that's really important.

SM: That's right. Just to add to what Sultan

said, one of the other ways Islamic finance has benefited the UK property market has been through our ethical ways of implementing Islamic finance in the UK, to a point where it’s actually influenced the UK regulator, and they have taken aspects of the way that we implement Islamic finance and put it into the regulations. An example is the Mortgage Market Review (MMR), when I remember Sultan, Amir and I were involved in offering Islamic home finance to customers. At that time, we were against the trend, in the sense that we were asking customers to complete budget We’re disrupting and planners. We were doing stress testing transforming Islamic home on Islamic home finance and dragging it finance—the equivalent of mortgage into the 21st century” applications. We weren' t s i mply relying on brokers’ assessments—our underwriters were having to do their own assessments in making their decisions from the very start. And guess what? After MMR 2014, it became the norm that every bank had to do that, but there are still areas where weare still ahead of the market. For example, where customers have missed fees, even if we charge a penalty, we don't charge any type of interest or capitalise on those kinds of payments. While the regulator has done some work on this by limiting it to three capitalised penalty payments, it's still not as good as zero.

SC: I think the world is heading that way

with Consumer Duty. The key point here is that Islamic values already embody these protections for consumers. So, the fact that we were doing it already was a really good indicator of the strength of our values.

Bridging & Commercial

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Amir Firdaus: Both Sagheer and Sultan

have covered the basics. The key one there is what Sagheer mentioned; you’ve seen where the market has changed in financial services over the past few years, where people were charging for overdrafts. You get penalties, you get interest and so on, and it becomes burdensome to the consumer. And lo and behold, Islamic finance already had this concept in place from the very beginning; you can't charge interest on rent. If you look at the mortgage crashes in the past, where people failed to make payments, they suddenly got overburdened with massive amounts of interest penalties and compound interest, which doesn't exist in Islamic finance. There's no such concept of burdening customers with interest on interest and things like that.

DA: Can you share a bit more about Offa's new BTL service and how you hope it will revolutionise Islamic finance in the property market?

SM: For too long, we've seen Islamic home

finance customers facing old-fashioned and really cumbersome systems when they attempt to obtain finance—mountains of paperwork to supply and fill in, taking weeks to get decisions. We've changed all of that with the launch of our BTL service. We're using a modern, end-to-end digital system so that our customers can potentially get a fair decision within minutes, depending on credit rating and risk criteria. They can also get decisions where they don't even have to submit, potentially, any paperwork at all.

We're disrupting and transforming Islamic home finance and dragging it into the 21st century.

Sultan Choudhry

“When you hand over a regulated book to another player, you’ve got to do a fair bit of due diligence to make sure that that player is fit and proper to look after these consumers”

Amir Firdaus

“When we make landmark announcements like this…it raises the profile and awareness of Islamic property finance in a very positive way”

In Conversation

I bumped into a customer at Tesco once.

He recognised me from LinkedIn. He’s a doctor who's got quite a large BTL portfolio and has never used an Islamic finance provider.

He's always used conventional providers.

He came back to us and said it’s been the best experience he’s ever had while making an application with us. He was able to get a decision immediately. The application was submitted, approved, went straight to valuation, and then went to offer within about eight days. Then, for the new applications, ie the new purchases, the only document he was required to submit was proof of a deposit.

Again, the decision was given there and then.

He’s never experienced something like that before. He just couldn't believe that could be done. And he was thinking, “Is this how Islamic finance is in the UK?” And I said, “No, we are the exception to the rule”. Our aim is to be the best Islamic home finance provider in the country and to be among the best in the conventional world. We're already achieving some of it, but we've still got more work to do.

DA: What motivated you to acquire the Alburaq portfolio from the Bank of Ireland, and how does it impact your proposition in the market?

AF: We looked at the Alburaq book—we’re

all career bankers; we've seen all this before.

We approached the Bank of Ireland because we know that there is a set of customers who have very limited choices in terms of products and what they can do with their existing property if it’s a BTL. By acquiring the book, we’re giving opportunities to those customers to access further products and bringing Offa to the forefront of their minds. As well, we've migrated the customers to our platform, so their servicing will be better than in the past.

There is an element of continuity, but also there's an element of expansion in terms of what the customer will receive. The book is quite seasoned. From our perspective, we're happy to onboard over 350 new customers to the Offa family.

Structuring an acquisition of an Islamic finance book is unheard of in the UK, and obviously it comes with challenges from a regulatory and taxation perspective and so on, which the team here are able to deal with. We've done it in a very elegant way.

SM: Amir was the one who led the way in

the acquisition; he’s the expert here. One of the big benefits, despite [being] early days, is that we've already had customers contacting us to take advantage of the other products we have available. We have customers right now transitioning over by releasing equity in their properties with our new products and taking up bridging financing. It’s a huge reward for us and our customers and the industry across the UK. SC: I would say it was a statement transaction

in the industry at two levels: It's putting down the marker that Offa is a serious player in Islamic finance. We’ve's bought one of the most historic Islamic finance books. It's looking to those customers to offer them a wide range of products. It shows that we are looking at growth, both organically and inorganically. Growth is an important phase that we're in, in both in-house expertise and resourcing. A significant point here is that it was purchased from a regulated entity. The book was bought from the Bank of Ireland, and was formerly distributed by the likes of Bristol & West and Lloyds Bank. When you hand over a regulated book to another player, you've got to do a fair bit of due diligence to make sure that that player is fit and proper to look after these consumers. Now, other recognised institutions have passed on their customers to us to look after. That's a big statement in the market, in terms of both our credibility and our reputation, that we're trusted to do so.

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Jan/Feb 2025

In Conversation

DA: How have people responded to the acquisition so far?

SM: The response has been overwhelmingly

positive, not just from brokers or customers, but even from our competitors. When we make landmark announcements like this, it's good not just for all of our customers and for Offa, but also for the entire industry because it raises the profile and awareness of Islamic property finance in a very positive way.

SC: If you think about it, this is a start-up

company in Birmingham with roughly 30 staff that's growing—suddenly punching above our weight is just indicative of our ambitions.

DA: How do you plan on attracting more non-Muslim customers to the Islamic finance market?

DA: Will you be offering new services this year?

SC: You've got to focus on what you do really

SM: Yes we will be, and our growth plans are

quite ambitious. As Sultan mentioned, a brand portfolio purchase is just an example of our future growth. We intend to grow through acquisitions, as well as organically. You will be hearing a lot more announcements from us in 2025. As we speak, we’re working on multiple different types of products—launching new types or new versions, and some that have never been developed before within Islamic finance in the UK. SC: One of the key strengths of Offa that

exists today is supporting, assisting and working together with property investors, whether that's coming in on the bridging side or holding the property for the long term. [We oversee] short-term real estate asset purchases, supporting customers to refurb, helping them to actually move to the longer-term product. So that linkage that we offer in the short term and longerterm marks us out already, strategically, so that supports a lot of growth. If you think about that proposition, we are going to fill that journey for the property investor from starting out right through, whether their strategy is flipping properties or building that portfolio. All the products that you can imagine that support that journey are

Bridging & Commercial

in our thinking—and, to a large degree, are in development. Now, the other key piece and fuel for growth, is of course, funding.

Finance houses don't grow without funding.

Following the Bank of Ireland purchase, we're attracting funders. People are knocking on our door and saying, “Can we give you funding and get a return, based on the work you do?” The fuel for growth is incoming as well, and that's a really important point, because you've got to generate the fuel that allows us to grow and do more originations and distribution, and develop more products.

2025 is a very important year for us because we'll see additional funding lines and products coming to bear.

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well. We have a unique proposition, with embedded ethics and values, and we focus relentlessly on that speed of operational execution. Speed is an important measure because it incorporates other things. You can talk about quality but, if you make a mistake, that slows down the process because the lawyers catch it down the line or somebody else does. Speed—it embodies quality in this particular industry. If we can do speed, we maintain our credit quality; operational quality must be built in if you can deliver speed. If we focus on that attribute of our organisation and make sure our products are well designed, then automatically we’ll start attracting people who want a really good product with really good delivery. We work through our distribution channels to make other people aware that there's a company that can turn around things really quickly and, if the pricing is competitive as well, why wouldn't you try it? Amir will come in here, because of his Malaysian background.

If you look at Malaysia, the take-up of Islamic products by non-Muslims is over 50%, isn't it, Amir?

AF: Yes, it's absolutely right. The take-up

from non-Muslims of Islamic products in Malaysia is over 50%. Effectively, people are agnostic in terms of taking Islamic products because of the service and the pricing. If you are competitive and provide quality services, what the trend shows in Asia is that it doesn't matter whether the users of these products are Muslim or not. They

Sagheer Malik

“What the trend shows in Asia is that it doesn’t matter whether the users of these products are Muslim or not.

That’s where we want Islamic finance to go through in the UK—it becomes a mainstream product”

In Conversation

look at it, and they look at the attractiveness of the product itself. That's where we want Islamic finance to go in the UK—it becomes a mainstream product.

SM: I think the vast majority of customers

with deposit accounts in Islamic banks are non-Muslim. That makes sense because the majority of the UK public is not Muslim.

There's no reason why Islamic home finance can't go towards that same direction as well.

And we've already done it from a service perspective. There's still more work to do to make us the best in the market, but I can't see any reason why we can't get there. It just takes time.

“We don’t want Islamic finance to feel like a foreign, exotic concept.

Offa was a king here in the Midlands. . . He was inspired to use a gold coin to imprint both his name and the Islamic testament of faith on the other side”

SC: We, as a team, were born

here or live here—the UK is our home. We don't want Islamic finance to feel like a foreign, exotic concept. Offa was a king here in the Midlands and he was the most powerful king in the Saxon kingdoms at that time. He was so impressed with the Muslim traders that he was interacting with and the values that we've been talking about. What's interesting is we’re talking about the 700s.

It’s just hard to imagine this 1,300–1,400 years ago. He was inspired to use a gold coin to imprint both his name and the Islamic testament of faith on the other side. So how do you bring that and integrate that with our proposition today? It's not something only Muslims do.

The kings of this island were interacting with the Islamic world and were inspired by it and using this coinage. I think that locks in this concept of we’re for everybody in England and Wales, currently. Over time, more and more products will bring us all together.

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DA: What challenges and opportunities do you foresee in property this year?

How will you go about addressing these?

AF: The government has very big ambitions

in terms of property development, and the perennial problem in the UK is supply versus demand. There's a much larger demand than supply of housing. Naturally, the government will be supportive of housebuilding, so we see opportunities there in terms of increasing stock. Now, on the flip side, there are also challenges with the regulations that have been brought in. I think they are good regulations in terms of ensuring we have proper landlords, but the risk is always there in the fine details, but we need to make sure the government is positive enough. There’s a bit of fine-tuning that's required. I think the intention of the legislation is fine—to prevent bad landlords from existing in the ecosystem—but the government needs to make sure that it doesn't overburden landlords and become an issue to the market.

We don't see any issues with stamp duty, for example. I know stamp duty is increasing.

That could happen in the property market, but pricing will adjust accordingly to reflect the changes in it. It has increased in the past, and we've seen the impact of it, but it always adjusts accordingly.

SC: You've got this government thrust towards

more housing stock. That will lead to people seeking more development and refurbishment finance, and more conversion of change of use, like conversion of offices into accommodation.

Offa’s well placed for both sides of the cycle.

We can help developers or people doing smaller-scale development converting houses to two or four apartments, for example, adding value to a property, as this shortage of stock manifests itself in the UK. We're well-placed to support that. Things like the Renters Reform Act and changes to stamp duty may lead to less stock and therefore probably higher rents—that can affect a BTL coverage ratio, [but] we can support that. If the rental

Ryan Etchells

In Conversation

DA: How do you plan on supporting first-time buyers through financebacked Islamic principles next year?

SM: Our highly experienced team is always

market does contract, it’s not going to have [as] much impact on us because we are one of the few players. There will still be a lot of landlords looking for Islamic finance, and we will be there to support them. Rent will go up because of some of the factors that Amir talked about—we're already seeing that—and that will help coverage ratios, depending on what happens to house prices. I'm always relatively positive about house prices in the UK. We went through two what we call ‘once-in-a-75-year’ catastrophes. We had the financial crash and then Covid. Look at residential house prices—while they affected other sectors, like retail and offices, residential held up really well. A little bit of tweaking to the legislation to protect tenants, forcing landlords to be better and more selective around tenants, that's one of the things you're going to see. But you'll need to be a good tenant, and you'll need to be a good landlord.

I think we're well placed to cover both impacts in the economy and the demand to build houses and, because of our speed and efficiency, being one of the niche players.

Now, if you're a BTL provider, and you're just offering conventional BTL, there's going to be some impact in your market. But, for us as a niche, we've got a unique proposition and there are very few other choices. We're well placed to withstand any ups and downs or bumps in the economy that may occur.

available to offer help to our customers through good and bad times. Where we try to find the best way to help is to make sure we make quick and fair finance decisions, so we're doing our part to make their lives easier.

SC: When you look at our customer base

or society in general, you're seeing a lot of nesting: people getting jobs, graduates getting good jobs but staying at home with mum and dad. It's a societal trend. Why sit there and wait while house prices go up when you can get on the ladder as an investor so that when it is time to move out, you've already got a property that you can sell or move into? It's an important product step that supports the societal change we're seeing.

SM: There are other things we're already

doing, and this will be passed on to firsttime buyers. It'll be quite helpful for them.

Something Sultan is talking about—being nested and so on—is that especially within the Muslim community, there's a big communal aspect to it, where the family would like to support the children. Not only do we allow deposits to come as gifts from family members, but we also allow our customers to Now, other recognised institutions purchase properties have passed on their customers that are undervalued. to us to look after. That’s a big It effectively allows rel at ive s to g i f t statement in the market” equity in a property.

Thereby, a first-time buyer can buy property from a family member at undervalue and then not have to pay us a deposit. It has been one of the biggest issues, especially with the rise in house pricing, for first-time buyers to raise a deposit. This is a unique way for them to do it and it's something that the community is doing. With a lot of other providers in the country, customers have been punished because they still must provide some sort of deposit. With us, the

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Jan/Feb 2025

In Conversation

distinction is that if there's enough equity in there and, if it's an undervalued transaction from a family member, we wouldn't require any deposit at all from them, if there's enough equity in there to meet the minimum 20% requirement. Our deposit requirement for a BTL is 20%, unlike the norm of the market, which is normally a minimum of 25%, so this will help all our first-time buyers as well.

DA: How does Offa plan to further support bridging finance customers in 2025?

SC: Bridging is our first and historic

product—that's very much our bread and butter. Funding is a really important aspect for bridge financiers, and we've lined up quite a bit of funding and we've got a lot of interest for funding more, so that's key to fast delivery. We're also pumping in more resources to the team, from both a systems and a people perspective. We see this as an area of growth in line with some of the stuff that was mentioned earlier about this government's thrust towards housing and development.

We have a new managing director who joined in January. We've got some business development managers joining. We launched a new system in the same month to increase that speed of execution. In terms of the products, we've got a lot of them already.

We've got the normal auction finance. For your regular investment property purchase through bridging, where you buy, refurb, and move it onto a BTL, we can support a bridging customer and assess them for this product as well, so they've got peace of mind. You can come to us and we can help you through the bridging phase and assess the BTL, too.

We’ll assess your purchase to see if it fits and apply that product. It gives customers peace of mind to know that they’re not going to be stuck in a costly bridge for ages. What I

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always say to bridging customers is to look at the total cost that you are going to incur in your finance costs. Yes, you budgeted your refurb, but look at the total cost. If you can shorten your bridge period, and move into what we call the term period, you've improved your profitability. We know how property investors think and what they want. That is going to be a real key proposition for 2025.

Bridging customers will be able to come in with a normal bridging product, a bit of refurb, a bit of auction, and we can potentially get them out of the bridge very quickly.

We came from a banking background, and we were surprised to see some bridgers go out there and charge a rate, but then shorten the period. You end up extending, and then they double or triple the rate on you.

You end up losing your property. You want to come to somebody you can trust and is supporting you to build wealth, and our job is to help you because we want you to come back. We want you to be successful in your transaction. When you put that proposition together with our ethical credentials, I think bridging customers have a lot to gain by coming to somebody like Offa because of that strong value set we have. We’re here to help you be successful.

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Limelight

We shine a spotlight on a selection of exciting events that brokers, lenders, and specialist finance professionals should add to their diaries this year

Tuesday 5th August, 10:30

NETWORKING IN FULL SWING WITH BLACKFINCH PROPERTY The Cheltenham Cricket Festival is one of the most beloved events in the social and sporting calendar, and we’re inviting you to experience it with us. Join us for the Gloucestershire v Derbyshire Falcons One Day Cup.

FINANZE CAPITAL: QUARTERLY BROKER NETWORKING PARTY For brokers looking to network and expand their client contacts book, Finanze Capital is adding more dates to their networking event—open to brokers nationally. Finanze is offering a £500 drinks tab on a first-come, first-served basis, and encourages all to come and learn about upcoming products and company announcements.

Cheltenham College, Gloucestershire, GL53 7AB

Request your place today Email - e.dunn@blackfinch.com

E V E N T D E TA I L S :

30th April / 16th July 2025 5pm to 8pm at Club Brass, Gotham Hotel, Manchester Contact rr@finanzecapital.com to RSVP

B&C_Cricket_poster-working.indd 2

03/02/2025 3:46 pm

BLACKFINCH PROPERTY HOSPITALITY: TOWERGATE CHELTENHAM CRICKET FESTIVAL Sports tournament fans, this one’s for you! Blackfinch is hosting the Gloucestershire v Derbyshire Falcons One Day Cup, offering all-day refreshments and a complimentary bar. Let’s not forget the pre-match two-course lunch and a private pitch viewing in the garden area.

E V E N T D E TA I L S :

Tuesday 5th August 2025 from 10:30am Cheltenham College, Thirlestaine Road, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, GL53 7AB Contact e.dunn@blackfinch.com to request a place

Bridging & Commercial

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Limelight

FIBA: ANNUAL CONFERENCE It’s that time of year again when FIBA hosts its annual conference to address pressing issues in the specialist finance market, anticipate trends and growth areas, and announce plans that will lead to a resilient sector. The conference will detail four sectors: bridging, commercial mortgages, development finance, and specialist BTL, and host a series of seminars to discuss the best practices to support businesses and their future development.

E V E N T D E TA I L S :

23rd May 2025 Manchester Central, Windmill St, M2 3GX

LADIES WHO CANNES This empowering initiative aims to instil confidence in women attending the typically male-dominated real estate festival, MIPIM. Launched by Anastasia Ttofis, CEO and co-founder of iLA; Kim McGinley, director at VIBE Finance; and Rosalia Lazzara-Tilley, CEO at Manuka Media, this group is set to host a women’s champagne breakfast at a villa in Cannes. They also tease plenty of educational activities for attendees to enjoy.

E V E N T D E TA I L S :

11th March to 14th March 2025 Palais des Festivals, Cannes, France

WORD ON THE STREET: SUMMER CYCLE CHALLENGE Instead of sipping cold drinks at home this summer, Steve and Michael are set to cycle from Manchester to London, in support of HideOut Youth Zone—a charity providing opportunities to Manchester’s diverse young people to discover their passion and purpose. Sponsors can look forward to a sweaty visit from the dynamic duo, opportunities to feature their branding on their socials and a chance to get involved in a limited podcast series filmed en route.

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Jan/Feb 2025

Backstory

Simon Juniper “Far too often the goalposts change. I’m making sure that doesn’t happen at Reim”

A

fter a two-year hiatus in the specialist finance industry, Simon Juniper is back as sales director at Reim Capital. With over 30 years of experience as both a broker and lender, Simon prepares to elevate Reim’s sales approach and shares core strategies to succeeding in the year ahead

Congratulations on your return to the industry! What drew you to Reim Capital?

I’ve known Kunal & Amar for years and have been tracking their progress for some time. I thought they had reached a point where I could add some value. They have a highly successful company and, having been in the industry for 30 years, I have good contacts that can now support Reim—[a business that has] developed an excellent support team to service these new brokers.

What new strategies will you bring to your role as sales director?

The key to success in this industry is relationships, which is why we have now launched our core broker panel. To have access to the panel, you need to be supporting Reim. In turn, this will give you the dedicated service needed to get deals through quicker and more efficiently. To be on the core broker list is a privilege, but it is open to all brokers who want to support Reim’s growth moving forward.

What can brokers expect from Reim in 2025?

Faster completions than any lender in the industry—we believe we now have the ability and expertise to complete deals quicker than anyone. The introduction of our core broker panel gives every broker the opportunity to be on it and access our senior team to get deals done quicker than ever before. We see that there is a gap in the market for an ‘old school’ bridging lender, and we are going to fill it.

After 30 years in the industry, what is the biggest career lesson that you will bring to Reim?

Honesty and integrity and the need to develop strong relationships with key brokers.

What opportunities and challenges do you expect in the specialist finance market this year?

Unlike all these experts on LinkedIn, I don’t have a crystal ball telling me what the year ahead holds. All I know is the year is going to be as good as the effort you put in!

Having run a successful bridging brokerage before, how does this help you look at deals through a broker’s eyes?

I started my journey in finance working for a bank, then in the late 90’s I started broking and, since 2019, I have come back to lending. Having worked on both sides of the fence, I understand what brokers are going through; it’s tough being a broker. All you want to do is to be able to work with a lender you can trust, because you can’t afford to have time wasted.

You have to understand that brokers don’t get paid, they have to earn a living—they need to know that the lender they chose to work with is going to be on their side, they need a lender who actually cares. Far too often decisions are made without any empathy for the broker or their clients. If you make a decision, you should honour it. Far too often the goalposts change.

I’m making sure that doesn’t happen at Reim.

What are your business growth plans over the next 12 months?

We are looking for a 50% rise in our loan book in 2025, and this is going to be achieved by working closely with all our core partners.

What is the secret to successfully managing a team and delivering results to clients?

Treat others how you’ d wish to be treated.

Hard work, honesty, and dedication—I have all these qualities and expect them of the team who works for me. Treating people fairly and with respect and creating an environment where they want to come to work, this is what will give you results.

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We heard you're a spinning instructor. What is on your spinning playlist?

• • • •

Dirty Hypomania – Sig freedoM Too Cool To Be Careless – PAWSA Don’t You Want Me – KiKi / Felix Adagio for Strings Artificial Midi / Technocats • Breathe Basston / Strobe / Tazzy

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

You seem to have lots of nutrition knowledge. Can you share one thing you know that many others might not?

I’ve got my wife Sharon to thank for all of this knowledge—she is a qualified nutritionist after all. Do your own research on the food you are eating, don’t trust anyone, and source and cook your own food. Also, remember to start some kind of fasting programme because, if you do, you might never be ill again!

What is one of your current guilty pleasures?

The Traitors UK on BBC One is so, so good.

I loved it so much that I’ve watched the American, Australian, and New Zealand versions!

CMY

K

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