Guide to Bridging Finance
in association with
72 bridging loans funded on average each week in 2018*. Piece of cake. We’re the bridging loan experts. Complex cases? We eat them for breakfast… and have done since 1985. Over the years we’ve seen it all – so you can trust us to make a quick, common-sense decision. togethermoney.com/bridging or call 0370 218 4684
For professional intermediary use only. *Includes unregulated and regulated bridging loan applications in 2018. ^ The rate offered will depend on product, security and the applicant’s individual circumstances.
Rates from
0.49% per month^
Guide to Bridging Finance
Welcome to the Bridging & Commercial Magazine supplement guide to bridging finance, in association with Together
Contents 4-5 Introduction 6-9 Putting service first 10-11 Common sense, not common practice 12-15 Case studies
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Guide to Bridging Finance
Bridging loans: Our specialist subject
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ridging lending is a financial option that continues to grow in popularity for property investors and homebuyers. The bridging market increased by 11.7% in Q2 2019, compared with the previous quarter, to a record £4.62bn, according to the Association of Short Term Lenders (ASTL). Our own estimates indicate that Together’s unregulated loan book accounts for around 19.5% of that total, positioning us as a pre-eminent bridging lender in the market. New and returning brokers know this better than anyone and continue to bring their clients back. Cases such as the delivery of a £2m re-bridge in the space 4
of four days and a three-day turnaround for a £1.5m land deal only go to show that we are one of the most flexible, fast and reliable partners for almost any deal or project. Over the past four decades, we have seen the financial world become a very different place. Trends and technology come and go. We continue to make enhancements to our financial offerings and consistently work with input from our brokers and packager partners to deliver improvements. We have implemented process changes that are speeding up delivery, system enhancements which make us easier to do
Guide to Bridging Finance
business with and developed exclusive products for Together+ (an initiative to build exclusive partnerships with our key packagers). More recently, we have worked to simplify our product range in line with what is most important to borrowers: competitive rates and flexible criteria that are among the best in the market. The results speak for themselves: Together’s net promoter score (NPS measures the willingness of customers to recommend a company’s products or services to others) stands at 44. Commercial customers gave us 86% for satisfaction, 89% for clarity and 88% for ‘ease to work with’.
Following our success and dealing with ongoing demand, Together has built and developed a specialist team in the commercial division, with dedicated underwriters equipped with the experience needed to thrive in a busy market. From start-ups to large established businesses, Together considers lending against commercial property regardless of construction, type or use. Our new team is replete with the acumen and agility to deliver on commercial property deals, while armed with some of the most flexible and competitive criteria in the market.
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PUTTING SERVICE FIRST The bridging finance sector is more professional than ever, but recent events (such as the demise of Lendy) have highlighted the need for continuous development on standards in underwriting, training and education. We spent a few minutes with Irene Thomas, the Commercial Operations Director at Together, to find out about her role and the importance of quality service.
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Tell us a little about your role and what it involves. I’m essentially responsible for overseeing the contact our Commercial Finance business has with its customers, at every point from first contact to account closing. That means everything from applications and underwriting, to collections and redemption. At every step, we’re conscious that we have two customers: the financial intermediary and the borrower. Both have service expectations that it’s vital we meet, so I look for the very best in every interaction we have.
And how does your professional background inform your current role? I’ve been with Together for almost 13 years but I’ve been in the finance industry for all my professional life; HBOS and Freedom Finance both feature on my LinkedIn profile! I started off, as many people in my position did, on the front line: answering the phones in a customer service call centre. In my case it was for North West Securities (NWS), which eventually became part of the Bank of Scotland’s mortgage business. I’ve also spent some time as Operations Manager for a packager, Advantage Home Loans, before it was acquired by Morgan Stanley—so I know what it’s like on the other side of the fence, too. As you might expect for someone who’s spent their whole career in customer-facing industries, I can’t abide bad customer service; there’s just no excuse. Whether you’re waiting tables or answering the phone, if you’re not willing to do the right thing to help a customer, you’ve chosen the wrong job. So I lead by example. Behaviour breeds behaviour, in my book.
Why is great customer service so important? Because it’s common sense, isn’t it? Any business that relies on long-term relationships to succeed should make customer service a top priority. Courtesy costs nothing. For me, the best customer service is transparent and honest. When we’re talking with an intermediary, that might mean being frank about – for example – why we’re not
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able to accept a case. In this day and age particularly, I think it’s really important to be open when things haven’t gone as the customer has hoped; there’s nothing worse than fobbing somebody off. If I were the customer I wouldn’t stand for it, so why should you?
What makes Together’s approach to service different? Together is the kind of business where nobody is afraid to muck in and get involved with doing the day-to-day stuff. We’re all part of the team, no matter how far up the ladder you’ve been able to climb. Just recently I spent three days on the phone to customers when the school summer holidays meant we didn’t have as many people answering calls as we wanted. In some businesses, the senior team would’ve just let those calls queue for longer. We’re not that kind of organisation. That said, it’s not often I end up on the phone to either a broker or a borrower these days; we have robust escalation procedures in place and have empowered our team to resolve service issues as and when they arise, so it’s very rare that something can’t be resolved without my input.
And finally, how have things changed in your time with Together? We’ve introduced a lot of tools and systems that empower our intermediary partners to self-service – and this frees up resources here, so we can focus on the things that really make a difference: fast decisions and flexible underwriting. It’s odd to think it now, but there was a time when our My Broker Venue portal – which allows brokers and packagers to key the details of an application into our system themselves – was a major change. Some were sceptical, but soon almost everyone could see the time savings that could be achieved by digitising parts of the process. Slowly but surely, we were able to shave chunks off how long it took for us to underwrite and fund cases. But we know there’s more we can do in this regard. We’re introducing some minimum requirements for commercial applications for the first time, which will hopefully reduce some of the back-and-forth when it comes to underwriting cases, which is good news for everyone.
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Common sense, not common practice When your clients need finance to seize an unmissable opportunity, they don’t want to be tied up by lenders’ red tape. You need a no-nonsense partner that finds the bridging product they need, fast. Together specialises in bridging loans that can be used in a range of ways – whether that’s fixing a broken property chain, expanding a business or landing a buy-to-let bargain. These can include challenging securities like semi-commercial units or land without planning permission. Smooth service, tailored to you We use years of experience – not tickboxes – to make common-sense decisions fast; our team is committed to providing an expert, tailored service with minimum fuss. We’ve been providing short-term finance to customers with varied needs and complex circumstances since 1985, and we’re constantly listening to feedback from our brokers and packagers to make sure our service and product offer is always improving, in both regulated and unregulated bridging. In 2015 we launched our regulated bridging product. To support the launch we established a dedicated bridging underwriting team with expert knowledge. This has proved really successful - it allows us to be flexible to customer needs and to process cases quickly from application through to funding. Following this success we’ve now set-up a dedicated underwriting team in our Commercial division to support unregulated bridging. The changes include the addition of a new operations manager, Paul Hunt and Michael Schofield has been promoted to underwriting relationship manager alongside a team of six dedicated underwriters and processors. The team are empowered to make decisions which ensures we offer customers the 10
service they need and expect from a leading bridging provider. The change is a key step in the growth of our commercial division. Some of the most competitive products on the market We’ve simplified our product range to focus on the things that matter most to borrowers, with competitive rates and flexible criteria we believe are best in class. Our customers and partners are seeing the benefit – we’ve seen a 15% increase in monthly originations year-to-date. We’ll soon be expanding our range of regulated bridging products, and if you’re a Together+ partner, we’ve got exclusive bridging products just for you.
Guide to Bridging Finance
Personal finance bridging team
Commercial bridging underwriting team 11
Guide to Bridging Finance
CASE STUDIES Study 1 - Three-day turnaround for £1.5m land deal A developer has secured a £1.5million bridging loan from Together for a land deal - in just three days. The client needed the finance to buy land but was let down by another lender just days before the deal was due to complete. The property company’s retained mortgage broker SPF Private Clients brought the case to Together and the specialist lender agreed a commercial bridging loan of £1.5m, secured against the land. Ritchie Watson, lending director at Together, said: “This was a strategic purchase of a piece of agricultural land, which would be the final piece of the jigsaw in a wider project. “We have a great relationship with SPF, having worked with them many times in the past, and were happy to look into this case when their previous finance provider let them down at the 11th hour. “SPF provided all the necessary documents and our commercial underwriting team pulled out all the stops to get this deal across the line ahead of the customer’s completion date.” Amadeus Wilson, director of short-term finance at SPF Private Clients, said: “We knew that Together would be able to provide the necessary funding within a tight timeframe. In the end, the client was delighted that we managed to achieve an impressive three-day turnaround from the application being submitted to funding being received.” 12
Guide to Bridging Finance
Study 2 - Together provides £2m re-bridge in four days Together has completed a £2million bridging loan to keep a property investor’s plans on track. The customer was up against a tight deadline to complete the purchase of a Victorian grade II-listed former malt house, which was built in 1864 and had been previously converted into offices. His property investment company had a bridging loan in place with a bank but approached master broker Finance 4 Business (F4B) to buy the property when the lender decided to “move the goal posts”. F4B recommended Together to its client as an alternative to its previous deal. After reviewing the case, instructing a valuation, and working closely with its legal partners at Priority Law, Together agreed a £2,018,451 re-bridge to pay back the client’s initial lender – and provided the funds in just four days. The investor had already secured planning permission to turn the former office block, and two associated outbuildings on the two-acre site, into 90 one and two bedroom flats, which is expected to increase its value dramatically. Marc Goldberg, commercial CEO at Together, said: “We were happy to do this deal when we saw the investor’s plans for this historic site. Our fantastic partnership with F4B ensured a rapid turnaround and we were happy with the client’s exit strategy; an agreed development facility with another lender further down the line. In all it was a great outcome for us, the broker and their customer.” F4B is a member of Together + an initiative to build exclusive partnerships between the lender and a hand-picked group of specialist distributors. Russell Martin, F4B managing director, said: “The client was delighted. He’d initially been sceptical about whether we’d be able to do the bridge so quickly but, when he found out the lender we’d found was Together, he was confident that the deal would be secured. “We have a great partnership through the Together + initiative, which provides support on things like products, underwriting, and marketing, and it’s really beginning to bear fruit.” 13
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Study 3 - 36-hour bridging loan for customer facing sale delay Together has helped a customer renovate his new home and pay a solicitor’s bill after he was hit with an unexpected three-month delay on the sale of his house. The customer had already completed on his new home when he was told about the hold up with the house he was selling. He needed the loan to cover legal costs and carry out some essential building work at his new property. Specialist distributer The Loan Partnership (TLP) brought the case to Together and the lender looked into the customer’s financial position before agreeing a 12-month short-term loan of £54,490, in just 36 hours, to bridge the gap while his house sale completed. Nick Jones, head of specialist distribution at Together, said: “This kind of case demonstrates how we can work closely with a broker to pull out all the stops when we are up against time. The Loan Partnership submitted the case to us at 7am on a Tuesday and it was so well packaged that we were able to complete the process and complete by 12pm on the Wednesday. “We worked quickly and efficiently with the trusted partner to provide fast finance and deliver a positive outcome for the customer.” The case was brought to Together by The Loan Partnership, a member of the Together+ initiative. Andy Pelley, director at The Loan Partnership, said: “Together has a reputation as a lender that delivers an exceptional service under pressure and timescales. Our experience with the lender, developed over many years, meant we were able to package and submit the application overnight to ensure no time was lost. “We know Together’s capability to turn applications around in a short space of time and are delighted with the seamless collaboration between ourselves and the lender.”
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Get in touch www.togethermoney.com/bridging
0370 218 4684 For professional intermediary use only and must not be distributed to clients. Products provided by Together Commercial Finance Ltd are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Together is a trading style of each of the undernoted companies, which have their registered office address at Lake View, Lakeside, Cheadle, Cheshire SK8 3GW. Together Personal Finance Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) | Registered in England and Wales - Company Registration Number 02613335. FCA number is 305253. Together Commercial Finance Limited | Registered in England and Wales - Company Registration Number 02058813.
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57,169 bridging loans funded since 1985. It would be our specialist subject. We’re the bridging loan experts. Shine the spotlight on our bridging loan credentials, and you’ll see why we’ve been making complicated cases simple for so long. You can rely on our dedicated team to deliver expertise and support, even under pressure. Find out how we do things differently.
togethermoney.com/bridging or call 0370 218 4684
Lending for the new normal. For professional intermediary use only. Includes commercial and regulated bridging loan applications over 33 years.