When I joined the lender, there were seven people working in the back of the founder’s house with a loan book of £30m. Today, we have West End offices with 25 staff members, all highly trained and experienced in delivering industry leading bridging services.

One thing that hasn’t changed is our customer centric approach; we believe in good, old-fashioned banking — no call centres or automated responses — with a trusted team of experts at the end of the phone. It’s that personal approach that has been important from the start and continues to be a founding principle of our business. We lend to people now whose parents were borrowers before them, some preceding my CA days.

It’s important for us to ensure that all staff are properly trained and well versed in our ethos. We have benefitted enormously from Close Brothers’ Aspire and Graduate training programmes and have some genuine success stories. This allows us to train staff in the CA way while learning on the job, another traditional and much undervalued system.

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Having been at the company for some time, I’m also aware of the of the cyclical nature of the economy and able to examine today’s market and behaviour of investors and borrowers with that in previous downturns. Last year was challenging, to say the least, and issues still prevail. The combination of rising interest rates and instability of political leadership, alongside war in Europe and consequent effects on energy prices, supply issues, and the cost of living in general has put the economy under extreme pressure.

The bridging market has held its own and demonstrated the vital role it can play when difficulties arise more widely. There is still a strong appetite to purchase and maximise profit from property and there is a realistic approach to both borrowing and lending in the bridging sector.

As we move into Q3, there are some fears that the market could fall, but our own loan book is healthy and prudently leveraged, plus we benefit from a very strong pipeline. Borrowers are exhibiting a more pragmatic approach to their assessment of proposals to include stress testing materials, labour costs, and the prospect of both an increase in interest rates and a fall in property values.

Despite a degree of negativity, Bridging Trends data shows bridging loan transactions have increased to the highest figure since 2019 and £716.2m of bridging transactions were made in 2022.

How did we achieve longevity within a fast paced, short-term market?

We might operate in a highly regulated environment, but we have always been a bit different in terms of our brand and values, and this is reflected in our marketing.

Looking to the future, we are currently working on a strategic plan, but you can be sure the emphasis is on ensuring the longevity and success of the business, while enshrining our ethos and remaining constant and reliable.

I am very proud to be at the helm to celebrate 40 fantastic years. Thank you to everybody who has contributed to this amazing milestone and we’re looking forward to the next 40!