Turbulent times require a tenacious lender

GARY MEALING (GROUP CREDIT DIRECTOR) Gary joined Sancus in March 2017 as credit director.

He has over 30 years’ experience in commercial and corporate banking, primarily at HSBC. He gained experience in various roles at the bank, including corporate, credit, legal, and audit, managing complex lending relationships including acquisition funding, MBOs, and multiphased property developments, with particular strength in managing and mitigating risk.

Jaxon has 25 years of experience in financial consultancy and management roles, with a proven track record in building high-level B2B relationships with extensive knowledge of the specialist lending market.

Prior to joining Sancus, Jaxon was at Omni Property Finance, where he was responsible for national business development, and, prior to that, Positive Lending, where he was national sales manager and head of networks.

Claudia has worked in bridging and development finance for over 10 years and has extensive experience and knowledge of the property finance sector.

She started her career at Masthaven, and most recently worked at Pivot as a senior underwriter, supporting the head of underwriting on credit decisions and approvals and underwriting loans to completion.

She leads the loan delivery team in the UK.

“As a provider of property finance, we know the crucial role that certainty of funding provides our clients. Our business is geared to giving a definitive answer as quickly as possible. The structure and size of the business enable us to move quickly and adjust to changes in the market, which has been particularly useful over the last few months. The sector is constantly evolving and, of course, every loan comes with its own unique set of circumstances, and Sancus is perfectly structured to support this whilst maintaining the momentum and tenacity needed to complete within set timescales.

“Many of our competitors offer strictly defined lending criteria, but we look at each case on its merits, so we don’t work to a matrix. That means we adapt to the needs of each client. We are also a close team and actively encourage a culture of open dialogue throughout the company, asking questions, listening to feedback, and adjusting what we do to ensure the best outcome and smoothest delivery.”

“Brokers are extremely important to our business, and working with them is something that forms a significant part of my day and is something I really enjoy.

“I see my role as making their lives easier, offering both them and their clients support through the loan application process and applying my knowledge to make it all as seamless as possible.

“Certainty of funding and having a reliable lender are paramount to borrowers, and we really get under the skin of a deal, fully understanding the borrower and the exit strategy and completing much of the due diligence up-front, so that when we make an offer, we will always stick by it.

“We have found that a call or meeting with the borrower as soon as possible allows us to really understand the business, as it invariably raises points that can be addressed earlier rather than later, which may affect timescales.

“Once the loan has been authorised by the credit committee, I then pass it to the loan delivery team.”

“My team works very closely with business development, both literally and metaphorically – we sit right next to them in the office!

“Once the loan has passed through credit committee, we will then pick it up, and it is our responsibility to ensure we complete all necessary due diligence on the case including KYC and review of the valuations and monitoring reports, together with ensuring a robust exit is in place to repay our loan.

“Certainty, communication, and trust are big parts of the culture in our company, and to achieve this we like to have all parties involved as early as possible in the loan process.

“We are pragmatic when driving every deal, conscious that borrowers will be juggling a multitude of other issues as well as the funding of their project. Our aim is to make it happen within the timescales agreed in collaboration with the client, working closely with them and all parties involved in the deal.

“We recently completed our fastest bridging loan ever – two weeks from initial enquiry through to drawdown, at the same time as landing a complex £13m development loan. Not a bad example of what we are capable of as a team!”