Ultimate Finance, Hope Capital and Lawrence Stephens bolster teams




Ultimate Finance, Hope Capital and Lawrence Stephens have welcomed new members to their teams.

Ultimate Finance

Ultimate Finance has appointed Thomas Ludden as regional director for the East Midlands and East Anglia.

Tom joins the lender from Bibby Financial Services, where he worked for 17 years in various roles, most recently as a business development manager.

“Ultimate Finance has an extremely strong reputation in the market, and I am keen to ensure they are seen as the funding partner of choice for introducers and their clients in the East Midlands and East Anglia region,” said Tom.

“With a sizeable office in Lutterworth, this puts me in a great position to support business within the region.”

Nick Haggitt, sales director for the South and Midlands at Ultimate Finance, commented: “Tom is a great addition to the sales team and his expertise together with his experience with the local network offers us a real foothold into the region and the opportunity to provide even more working capital solutions to help businesses meet their ambitions.”

Ultimate Finance are continuing to recruit for several new roles across the group to drive growth, after it reached its highest ever total loan book of over £270m in July.

The lender also increased its lending capacity through a new £160m wholesale funding facility.

Hope Capital

Hope Capital has appointed Helen Hargreaves as a trainee underwriter and Andrew Bate as a graduate loan administrator.

The lender has recruited the two in order to continue the company’s expansion strategy and to help support the underwriting department.

Both join the company in the early stages of their careers and will be provided with the opportunity to learn and develop within the financial services industry.

Prior to this, Helen worked as customer mortgage expert at Barclays, while Andrew was a test and trace adviser for Serco.

Commenting on her appointment, Helen said: “It is fantastic to join a fast-growing business, where there’s lots of opportunity for career progression. 

“I am very excited to get stuck in and learn from some of the industry’s best underwriters.”

Andrew added: “I am extremely happy to have started working with Hope Capital and I am looking forward to being part of such a forward thinking and experienced team. 

“Having the opportunity to learn, develop and progress my career is very exciting.”

Earlier this month, the lender also appointed Roz Cawood as director of sales and David Burford and Debbie Range as BDMs.

This follows a successful period in recent months for the specialist lender, having grown its loan book by 169% and seen its average loan size for completed deals go up by over 120%.

Jonathan Sealey, CEO at Hope Capital, commented: “Our doors are always open to new talent. 

“At Hope Capital, we recognise the responsibility of providing training opportunities and promoting from within. 

“Underwriting is incredibly specialised in bridging lending, particularly when every case is looked at on its own merits and the numbers involved in terms of loan amounts range from the tens of thousands to the millions. 

“I have no doubt Helen and Andy will be great additions to the underwriting team and I really look forward to watching them grow and develop their careers.”

Lawrence Stephens

Lawrence Stephens has appointed Sara Jutestal as a senior associate for its commercial real estate team.

In her new role, she will advise clients on a full range of commercial real estate matters, including lease renewals, granting of new leases, refinancing, property acquisitions and landlord and tenant matters.

Sara, who has seven years of experience working in the real estate sector, joins the law firm from PCB Lawyers LLP, where she developed strong expertise in acting on a variety of commercial and residential real estate transactions for a range of clients including HNWIs, overseas investors and commercial landlords operating in the corporate office space and hospitality industries.

“I’m thrilled to be taking the next step in my legal career at Lawrence Stephens and hope that I can utilise my existing skills and experience to produce excellent results for our clients and enhance the firm’s growing success,” said Sara.

Stephen Messias, head of real estate at Lawrence Stephens, commented: “We’re delighted to have Sara join us during this exciting period of expansion and development within our team. 

“As we respond to an increasing demand for commercial real estate services, Sara’s expertise and commitment to delivering a high level of client service will be invaluable to Lawrence Stephens.”

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