After gaining FCA authorisation, Alternative Bridging Corporation first decided to focus on cementing a dominant presence in the non-regulated commercial market. Therefore, the purchase of the well-respected regulated outfit proved as a logical move for the lender. 

B&C spoke to Allan Kay, Managing Director of Alternative Bridging Corporation, previously of Cheval Bridging Finance, to see what has changed at the firm in the past year.

“The company has grown [and] we have taken on more staff members as the business volumes have increased,” Allan stated as the main change since the acquisition of Cheval.

Earlier this month, news emerged surrounding a £2.9million regulated bridge completed by the lender. However, the highlight of the past year for Allan was Alternative Bridging’s first deal after the purchase.  He said: “There had been a great deal of hard work put into getting to the point where we could start to lend.

“That said, there have been a number of very complicated deals throughout the year which have created a great sense of achievement when they completed.” 

As for the future surrounding regulation in the short term lending market, Allan believes the rules and requirements applicable to bridging loans are sufficiently robust to make loans that are fair and realistic.

He said: “I cannot say how the bridging market will be regulated in the future - we are led to believe that there will be some sort of regulation covering BTL properties, but the exact nature of this has not been decided yet”.

“…the situation could very well remain like this until there is clarification on the EU Directives.”

As for the future of Alternative Bridging, Allan feels growth and expanding in the next few years are the key goals for the corporation. This year's appointment of Business Development Director Tanya Elmaz signposted an oncoming expansion in the lender's processing team. 
 
“We believe that we look at deals with a mind-set of ‘how can we make this work’ - we want to grow the business with this ethos.

“We currently have traditional Prime and Flex products and recently launched the Revolver product. We intend to design and launch more innovative products next year.”