Speaking to Bridging & Commercial, Mez Amakulo, senior underwriter at Mint Bridging (pictured above), said the lender had recorded its most successful year so far.

“We are now nine months into the year and we have had our busiest period to date. 

“We are completing more loans, in faster timescales and we are experiencing a market that is continually growing. 

“We have had our most successful year to date and we still have four months to go.”

Mint Bridging has lent over £325m across more than 775 loans since launching six years ago and has over £100m of funds currently under management.

The lender has also grown its staff to over 30 and now works across two sites in Altrincham and MediaCityUK in Salford.

“The way we work is testament to the increase in enquiries and conversions,” said Mez.

“We have a dedicated underwriting department who operate around the clock to ensure the right deals get underwritten in timescales that are beneficial for clients and brokers.”

Mez said that Mint’s strategy of handcrafted loans meant that it didn’t have a one-size-fits-all approach to its broker requests.

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“We are creative in our thinking and our capacity, speed and superior understanding of our brokers and client needs give us an edge in the market.

“We take a loan and handcraft the specific details into a package for the broker and clients. 

“We have found that it allows us to give them an extra advantage in terms of [the] structure of the loan.”

Mez added that despite London being a focal point for property finance, the North had seen a steady and consistent increase.

“In the past 12 months, there has been a surge of enquiries in terms of commercial property and development. 

“This is indicative of our current market economy.

“We expect the interest in the North to grow, especially in areas of the North West that are seeing heavy redevelopment, and the possibility of Channel 4 moving its head office into the ever-expanding Media City.”

Looking to Mint’s future plans, Mez added: “We have just launched our new brand identity and communications of ‘handpicked loans’. 

“Mint’s about innovation and moving forward with our business model. 

“We identified that brokers and introducers need a more flexible attitude from us and we got involved in research to identify this change and acted accordingly. 

“As we are 100% privately owned, we have the freedom and flexibility to share our knowledge and experience using our instincts to help clients create bespoke business opportunities.”