Shawbrook: The first chapter in their short term lending story

Shawbrook: The first chapter in their short term lending story




.

Since entering the short-term lending market in mid-December 2011, announced exclusively by B&C, Shawbrook Bank is set to begin its first complete year as an alternative lender with a bang.

The specialist savings and lending bank came to market in April 2011 after being bought by RBS Equity Finance, which allowed the business to grow. Subsequently, Shawbrook was able to buy further lending facilities, enabling the bank to develop towards its current model and branding launch in October last year.

Two months later, Shawbrook revealed a short-term lending proposition as a complementary addition to its successful mid-term offering, establishing a strong market position and diversifying product range. We caught up with Stephen Johnson, Shawbrook Bank’s New Business Director, who told us more about what Shawbrook has to offer and what’s to come in 2012…

Stephensaid, “We want to build on this strong start, and our recent move into short-term lending is an exciting move for the bank. We have had a strong response and look forward to becoming a significant lender into the short-term loan sector.”

Explaining a little more about the new product range, Stephen added: “There is a lot of uncertainty within the wider economy at the moment. Our short-term products are specifically designed for experienced property investors and although the climate is changeable, there are strong buying opportunities out there and therefore we believe there will be a significant amount of demand to be satisfied.”

Despite having been launched just before Christmas, Stephen told us that Shawbrook has already made a number of formal offers to clients who fit the experienced property professional requirement.

He continued, “Most of our prospective clients are looking to finance the purchase of residential and mixed-use investment properties with an established rental income. We have also had enquires for refurbishments on prime property from those looking to increase rental return over the medium term”.

Looking ahead to the rest of the year, Shawbrook looks set to continue growing. Stephen said: “Since introducing our extended range of commercial lending products, our aim for 2012 is to provide £250 million of lending to the market.”

“We are keen to develop our lending proposition, and are particularly focused on identifying complementary markets to our term lending. We are enthusiastic about the opportunities we believe exist in 2012 for a specialist bank with no legacy issues.”

However, Stephen noted that the new offering will remain as an extension of Shawbrook’s existing product range: “The majority of our funds will still be lent in the mid-term market which will be about 70 per cent of our loan book. The remaining 30 per cent will be in the short-term market where we expect to expand our business in the coming year.”

With such triumphs leading the way into the New Year, 2012 is set to be prosperous for the entire short-term lending arena with continually increasing confidence in a steadily expanding

market. 

 

By Alexandra Jones

Leave a comment