Justin Cooper

Justin Cooper joins Octane Capital




Justin Cooper has joined brand-new 'third-generation' bridging lender Octane Capital as senior business development manager (BDM).

The ex-Octopus Property manager is the latest recruit to join Octane – which officially launched last week – and will be working with former Dragonfly Property Finance (now Octopus Property) colleagues Mark Posniak and Jonathan Samuels.

Justin said: “Bridging has constantly evolved over the past decade but, for me, what Octane Capital [is] setting out to do is without doubt the future.

“While brokers value the professionalism and transparency of bridging today, many also complain that it has become too transactional and formulaic.

“There is a real demand for lenders who do not blindly box-tick, but understand risk and work alongside brokers to get even the most complex deals across the line.

“It’s this sense of partnership with brokers and intelligent loan structuring that Octane is all about, and as someone who works closely with brokers each day, that naturally appeals.”

Justin was named BDM of the Year at last year’s Bridging & Commercial Awards as he was recognised for his work with the broker community.

Mark Posniak, managing director at Octane Capital, stated: "Justin is a well-known and highly respected figure in the bridging industry.

“Having someone of his calibre and experience come onboard at such an early stage is a strong vindication of our new lending model and what we are setting out to achieve.”

The Pamplona-backed lender revealed last week that instead of using a product sheet with set rates determined by LTV, it will be pricing each loan application according to risk.

“We have huge plans for the sector and there’s no doubt that Justin will help us to realise them,” Mark added.

Octane Capital focuses on complex, non-standard and larger loans that brokers may struggle to place with other lenders.

It will also be opening its doors to the development finance sector from the third quarter of 2017.

Octane’s founders have loaned over £2.2bn across 4,000 loans with a default rate of under 1%.

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