B&C Awards 2023: Judges revealed

The two panels of industry experts — one formed of brokers, the other lenders — have been chosen to select the winners for 27 of the 30 award categories ahead of the ceremony on Thursday, 21st September.

The chairpeople for the broker and lender panels will be announced in due course.

Voting for the longlist opened on 28th February and will close on 5th June.

Both panels will then be asked to select their top nominees from a longlist in each category, to arrive at the official shortlist, which will be published on Bridging & Commercial on 14th June.

On 27th July, the panels will convene to decide who will be crowned B&C Awards 2023 winners, with the groups determining the victors in two separate sessions.

Both panels will select the winners for the Best Specialist Finance Partner and Best D&I Campaign of the Year.

The winners will be announced later in the year, during the awards ceremony at the Hurlingham Club in Fulham.

Who are the judges for 2023?

Broker panel:

• Krystal Jevons, managing director at Pure Advisory Group
• Shazad Ahmed, founder and director at Elan Property Finance
• Morgan Stewart, director at GPS Financial
• Laura Sneddon, commercial network manager at Fiducia Group
• Masood Rashid, director at Opes Financial Partners
• Racheal Harkins, head of bridging and commercial at Intelligent Loans
• Andrew Robinson, CEO at Arc & Co
• Chris Oatway, co-CEO at LDN Finance
• Peter Williams, CEO at Propp
• Martyn Pollock, director at Hallcroft Finance
• Narinder Gill, associate at Coreco Commercial Finance 
• Natalie Glover, bridging, development and commercial finance broker at SPF Private Clients
• Emma Ross, commercial manager at Watts Commercial Finance

Lender panel

• Leanne Ardron, head of bridging finance at LendInvest
• Maeve Ward, director of commercial operations at Mercantile Trust
• Guy Harrington, founder of Glenhawk
• Paul Munford, CEO at Century Capital
• Donna Louise House, head of BTL credit at Octane Capital
• Gavin Diamond, CEO at Spring Finance
• Mike Jones, chief sales officer at Tenn Capital
• Joanna Winterton, head of commercial mortgages (South) at Aldermore Bank
• Gareth Lewis, managing director at MT Finance
• Uliana Kuzmis, deputy managing director for development finance at HTB
• Tanya Elmaz, director of intermediary sales for commercial finance at Together
• Charissa Chang, broker business development director at Allica Bank
• Adrian Moloney, group intermediary director at OSB Group
• Omkar Hushing, head of BTL and specialist lending underwriting at MFS
• Jack Coombs, director at Aspen Bridging
• Jonathan Rubins, director at Alternative Bridging Corporation

Commenting on being selected as a judge, Leanne said: “I'm delighted to be on the judging panel this year; there are a number of outstanding brokers in this industry and I look forward to being part of reviewing the finalists.”

Charissa added: “This last year has tested many in our industry, and businesses have had to adapt and demonstrate great resilience to overcome the challenges they have continued to be faced with. 

“However, the specialist finance world is a community that always rises to the challenge, with so many stand-out achievers that deserve to be recognised for their contributions. 

“I am honoured to be part of this year’s judging panel as we recognise those that have maintained an unwavering focus on delivering property finance in our wonderful industry.”

Uliana also said she was delighted to have been chosen as a judge: “This is an exciting opportunity to contribute towards determination of the worthy winner in each category, and I am looking forward to meeting other judges, seeing the industry’s best in action and working closely with B&C."

Peter stated: “At Propp, we’re all about levelling the playing field for newcomers and challenger banks, so I’m honoured to join the broker judging panel, where I will bring an objective enthusiasm to the table to assess who has raised the bar in the lending space in 2022.”

Krystal added: “It is a privilege to be part of the decision making to recognise the positive contribution specialist lenders make to brokers and our clients.”