Following the completion of its first commercial deal last month, the challenger bank has revealed to B&C that it is already planning to enlarge the team.

Hampshire Trust Bank snapped up former OneSavings Bank Director Colin Bell to head the commercial mortgages division as managing director in January, after acting as CEO of InterBay for 10 years.

“Hampshire Trust Bank’s Commercial Mortgages team has hit the ground running, completing its first deal just weeks after officially launching into the sector,” Colin told B&C.

“We have an experienced team in place, a team that are well-known in the commercial mortgages and bridging markets and now we are focused on growing that team to ensure we continue to deliver the high levels of service and certainty that our brokers require.

“We plan on at least doubling the size of the team over the coming year."

The growth reflects the bank as a whole, which currently employs around 100 people and is set to continue to expand.

Hampshire Trust Bank is distributing its commercial mortgage products through a specialist panel of master brokers, which will also be bolstered over the year.

“This panel will expand as we grow our proposition. That said, distribution will continue to be limited and specialist,” Colin added.

In April, Hampshire Trust Bank launched into the bridging market with rates as low as 0.6% a month, and completed a £10.8m bridge secured against 11 apartments in central London.

The lender’s commercial mortgages product range offers loans between £100,000 and £10m.