Five firms bolster teams




Castle Trust Bank, Investec Real Estate, Shawbrook Bank, Paragon Bank and Aldermore have expanded their teams.

Castle Trust Bank

Castle Trust Bank has appointed Anna Lewis as director of proposition and strategy.

In her new role, she will help drive the bank’s ongoing expansion of its specialist BTL and development finance propositions.

Anna, who has almost 18 years of experience in intermediary mortgages, joins the company from Hampshire Trust Bank, where was the head of new business.

Prior to this, she held roles at Purely Mortgages and Interbay Commercial.

"This is a fantastic time to join a company that has ambitious plans to grow,” said Anna.

“With my expertise in specialist mortgages, we can continue to build on the great proposition that Castle Trust Bank already has in place, working closely with intermediaries to support them and understand how we can continue to evolve and meet their lending needs.”

Barry Searle, managing director for property at Castle Trust Bank, commented: “I’m very pleased to welcome Anna to the team. 

“She has a wealth of experience and a great track record in working with intermediaries to identify the evolving needs of property investors and developing propositions to meet those needs. 

“We have already had a huge amount of success with our specialist BTL and development finance offering and Anna will become a key member of the team in building on that success and putting Castle Trust Bank at the forefront of consideration for any broker who has property investor clients.”

Investec Real Estate

Investec Real Estate has promoted Jonathan Long as head of corporate lending for its real estate team.

Under his leadership, Investec’s corporate offering will continue to focus on underwriting larger ticket size transactions. 

The lender will also continue to offer alternative funding options, such as equity funding — usually alongside senior debt — portfolio lending and NAV facilities for fund clients in partnership with the Investec fund solutions team. 

Since joining the company in 2016, Jonathan has closed over £600m of real estate loans to a mix of UK and global corporates and institutions in both the development and investment space across all real estate asset classes.

Prior to Investec, he spent three years at BLME, having started his career in Ernst & Young’s banking and capital markets team. 

Commenting on his appointment, Jonathan said: “This is an exciting time for Investec as we emerge on the other side of the Covid tunnel. 

“Our Living platform has underpinned the team’s deep understanding of the operational real estate space, and we see an opportunity to build on this to be the funding partner of choice for borrowers seeking to grow their exposure to the industrial sector, as well as more nascent sectors, including life sciences, self-storage and dark kitchens.

“We also believe that providing increasingly sophisticated and discerning clients with access to a range of real estate services — including our fund solutions offering — will allow us to maintain our market leading position.”

Mark Bladon, head of real estate at Investec, added: “Since joining Investec, Jonathan has played a key role in expanding our corporate client base, while also working closely with other functions in the real estate space to enhance our offering for both global and domestic investors seeking exposure to the UK market. 

“Our client-centric, disciplined approach and 30-year track record has underpinned our strong performance this financial year, which we are well placed to replicate as we move into 2022.”

Investec has enjoyed a strong first nine months of the financial year, exceeding its lending targets with £705m of new commitments since April 2021 across its corporate and institutional client base. 

Highlights include £300m of residential for rent and sale, £85m of office and £120m of industrial lending. 

Shawbrook Bank

Shawbrook Bank has appointed Yochai Zorno as an underwriting team manager and Jack Broadbridge as a bridging relationship manager.

In their new roles, Yochai will lead a team focused on larger and more complex bridging transactions, while Jack will manage loans from application through to redemption with an emphasis on enhancing the end-to-end journey for bridging customers.

Yochai has a strong background in mandating and providing management and support to underwriting teams, having previously worked at Together for over 15 years, most recently as an underwriting relationship manager.

Meanwhile, Jack, who also has over 15 years of experience in the specialist finance industry, joins Shawbrook Bank from LendInvest, where he was a senior bridging underwriter.


Commenting on his appointment, Yochai said: “Shawbrook has made great leaps in the industry in the last few years, and has big growth ambitions, so I’m delighted to join at such an exciting time. 

“When speaking to previous colleagues who are already at Shawbrook, they couldn’t speak highly enough of the culture and how they are made to feel like they are part of something special. 

“This was very important to me when deciding to take on the role and I’m glad to be a part of the team.”

Jack added: “When I heard the vision of the bank, particularly surrounding bridging, I knew I wanted to be part of achieving its goals. 

“Building strong relationships with customers is an aspect I have always enjoyed throughout my career and is another reason this particular role appealed to me.  

“Shawbrook has a fantastic team in both the sales and credit functions, and I believe we are making the right moves to make an already good proposition and excellent one.”

Gavin Seaholme, head of sales at Shawbrook Bank, stated: “Over the last few years, Shawbrook has experienced substantial expansion, and we have a lending appetite to match this growing resource. 

“I'm convinced that the next year at Shawbrook will be another fantastic one as we look to grow even further. 

“The addition of Yochai and Jack will support the team in achieving our goals and delivering value to our broker partners and their clients.”

Paragon Bank

Paragon Bank has appointed Charlie London and Helen Mountain as regional sales managers.

In their new roles, Charlie will be responsible for managing the South East region, and Helen will be manage the London and South territory.

Prior to joining Paragon, Charlie worked as a BDM at Castle Trust and specialised in complex BTL mortgages, such as HMOs and limited company mortgages. 

Meanwhile, Helen was previously a key account manager at Vida Homeloans, where she regularly assisted brokers with complex BTL cases, including portfolio lending, limited company, and expat propositions. 

She has also worked at Nationwide and TMW as a BDM.

Commenting on her appointment, Helen said: “I’m really excited about joining Paragon.

“My extensive industry experience, combined with our innovative proposition will allow me to add significant value to our brokers’ day-to-day client facing activities.”

Charlie added: “During my time working within the BTL market both as a broker and a BDM, Paragon has always stood out as a lender that offers common-sense leading with competitive rates. 

“It’s a fantastic time to join a dynamic bank with a very exciting future and I am looking forward to building and growing relationships with brokers and introducing them to the benefits of using Paragon Bank.”  

Jason Wilde, national sales manager at Paragon Bank, stated: “I’m delighted that Helen and Charlie have joined Paragon. 

“The traditional role of a BDM has changed during the past 18 months, so there is now a greater emphasis on availability and being able to work in conjunction with brokers on the more complicated transactions. 

“Both Charlie and Helen have an excellent combination of experience and expertise in the complex BTL market that will enable them to add real value to our intermediary partners. 

“The appointment will enable Paragon to continue to build on the strong relationships formed with key partners and promote the company’s BTL proposition to the market.”

Aldermore

Aldermore has increased the number of telephony BDMs by 60%.

The lender has also reorganised its 10 sales regions to three, namely:

  • North — comprising Scotland, Northern England and Yorkshire, and North Wales
  • Central — covering The Midlands, South Wales, and East Anglia
  • South — including London, South West and South East

Each region now has a larger dedicated team of telephony BDMs available, boosting the lender’s coverage across all areas and ensuring it supports brokers quicker and more efficiently.

Jon Cooper, head of mortgage distribution at Aldermore, commented: “We’re delighted to announce our expanded and improved BDM service, which will be a game-changer in how we serve our broker partners across the UK. 

“The new and improved operating shape means we can spread our case workload over a greater pool of talent. 

“This will help to prevent blockages while investing in developing our staff and giving our BDMs more time to support brokers with complex cases. 

“2022 promises to be a busy year for the housing market and the broker community. 

“We’ve listened to our broker partners on how we can improve to better serve them, and we believe this will create a better experience and provide a faster, more responsive process, which enables us to support the growing complex needs of brokers and their clients going forward.”

Leave a comment