At a time where competition in the bridging market is heating up, Bridging & Commercial has explored the role of a specialist packager and how they add value to the process.

Paul Wertheim, operations director at Mint Bridging, said a good packager simply understands how it works. 

“They explain the process to their clients, what’s expected of the client and the time scales.

“Packagers have the expertise to help a deer-in-headlights borrower, the process can be quite daunting after all. 

“Again, a good packager will help the client throughout the whole process, including redemption and the exit, if needed. 

“These types of experienced packagers – especially the ones with tricky borrowers – absolutely deserve the money they earn.”

Jo Breeden, managing director at Crystal Specialist Finance, said that while some lenders speak to brokers directly, they understand the importance of the role of the packager.

“Bridging finance is very often time sensitive, so understanding the true breadth and depth of products available in the market and each lender’s appetite and processes is key to getting the deal done quickly and efficiently. 

“Bridging is also an evolving proposition with issues that can come out during the process that need to be resolved; a packager has generally seen most requirements and outcomes before and can sort solutions. 

“Even if a deal falls [through] with one lender, a packager can get it rehoused quickly and easily.”

However, Paul added that a good broker can also assist in the same manner.

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“What they lack in back-office support, they usually make up with the one-to-one personal service. 

“Mint’s seeing more brokers meeting the borrowers and viewing the proposed security. 

“This adds great value to the whole process.”

Stuart Law, CEO of Assetz Capital, added: "The last credit cycle saw many issues arising from packagers in the market and lenders have definitely gone much closer to the borrower since then and work directly with borrowers in most cases. 

"Assetz Capital uses no packagers although some P2P lenders take a different approach."

Kit Thompson, director of short-term lending and development at Brightstar, said he did not like the term ‘packager’ and said Brightstar regarded itself more as a ‘specialist distributor’.

“While it is a fact that lenders in the short-term arena will take business direct from brokers and many networks now have direct-to-lender relationships, I believe that the role of the specialist has never been more important.”

Kit pointed out that many lenders offer a panel of preferred broker partners who have access to cheaper rates and higher proc fees and in addition it has full FCA permissions, meaning Brightstar could take name and number referrals from its introducers and offer a fully advised sale for bridging.

“We are seeing an increasing number of broker networks (including MAB and Intrinsic) moving away from their brokers offering advice on regulated bridging, with the preference to be to refer it across to a specialist in this area. 

“I think lenders also favour business from a specialist master broker who deals in volume, rather than a broker who rarely deals with bridging and might place one or two bridging cases a year, as bridging is typically a numbers game, with around 10% of enquiries resulting in written business and around 60% of the written business completing. 

“The distributor helps to filter out the good from the bad enquiries and present them properly, with a solid exit route – something that novice brokers often overlook the importance of.”

Jo concluded: “Just as important is that, as a bridging packager, we deal with different case types day in, day out, so are equipped to handle the time and criteria questions that maybe less volumetric brokers might find stressful.”