Tempus Fugit




They say that a sign of getting old is noticing how quickly time starts to pass: one minute you're laying out the breakfast things and the next… well, you're laying out the breakfast things....

They say that a sign of getting old is noticing how quickly time starts to pass: one minute you’re laying out the breakfast things and the next… well, you’re laying out the breakfast things. If that’s the case, then I’m getting old.

It’s now just over a year since I started writing my weekly blog for Bridging & Commercial. 52 posts on and counting, and I’m astonished I still find something new (-ish) to say each week. Whether it’s worth anything is for you, dear reader, to judge; but if nothing else, it bears testament to the energy and dynamism of bridging.

A lot has happened bridging-wise in the past year. At the beginning of my tenure as a B&C guest columnist, debate was raging about the relevance of the astl – the short term lender’s trade body – and its very future. It got quite heated but, 12 months on, the Association looks in much better condition.

With a relatively new CEO at its helm, the astl is beginning to shape up as a credible and representative organisation. It publishes much-needed quarterly statistics about the sector, and is preparing for its inaugural conference in the autumn. What are needed now are more members, a higher profile and an effective lobbying role. I’m confident its chief, Benson Hersch, is listening and acting.

Most tellingly, bridging has continued to thrive over the last year. It didn’t implode under the weight of over-blown expectations; nor has it wilted in the face of competition from other forms of lending. New entrants are still piling in, and recent announcements confirm the sector’s continuing attractiveness to entrepreneurial funding (well done, Laurence Goodman and Bridgebank Capital). Trading volumes, redemptions and bad debt levels all appear to be performing well.

While all good, bridging clearly hasn’t expanded in any exponential sense. The market’s size – its value – is roughly the same as when I first started writing my blog. This has created a tangible sense of competition as lenders and brokers vie for a share of the pie, which, in turn, has produced some innovative developments and plenty of interesting debate.

So, what do the next 12 months hold in store? Well, for a start, I can’t promise I’ll still be here (as a bloggist, that is). That gift is in the hands of my media hosts, and they may soon decide enough is enough. When that time comes, I shall retire gracefully. What I can promise, however, is another year of progression.

It will come less from sector quantum growth – which I think will remain broadly static – than from improvements in product choice and their marketing to new, niche business channels currently not using short term products as they should and could. Standards of conduct are also set to improve further, and in this the trade bodies will play a pivotal role.

The competitive element will not let up. I foresee a continuing influx of new players and a gradual re-emergence of mainstream lending. The banks (the Co-operative aside) are sitting on a pile of cash. They need to start doling some of it out soon. It won’t be a tidal wave, but we’re already seeing at ground level increasing activity by the previously moribund bankers.

I’m not too bothered by this for a number of reasons. First, we need mainstream lending back for the greater good of the economy. Second, and as I suggested earlier, it will be a trickle rather than a flood (the banks remain risk-averse and distracted by their own largely self-created problems. This will be reflected in the way they cherry-pick new lending opportunities). And third, the specialist bridging lenders have successfully carved out their own identity and are well-placed to hold their position.

A good health check for bridging will come in November when the very first Finance Professionals Show launches at London’s re-vamped Olympia. Omni Capital will be among a host of bridgers flogging their wares, but we will be joined by many high street names, increasingly-bullish secured loan providers and a wide range of ancillary services firms. I predict bridging will stand proud among all-comers.

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