Receiving a staggering 291 votes, 57% of the total, it was something of a landslide victory for the lender that was beaten to first place by Bridgingloans.com in last year’s awards.

This year saw a record number of brokers registering their vote, either online through the Bridging & Commercial site or at this year’s Expo, with over 500 votes in total counted.

Commenting on the victory, Cheval CEO Alan Margolis said: “We’re very pleased to win. This year we have tried to make a real effort to come back into the market and get reacquainted with our brokers and hopefully it has paid off.

“At Cheval even if we can’t assist someone we’ll always point them in the right direction of someone who can, as bridging is more of a service than a product. That is very much the mantra that we do business by.”

The results of Bridging & Commercial’s other awards, including the Service Excellence award, Most Innovative Lender, Best Commercial Lender and Best Bridging Product, will be announced later this week when our panel has reached its final decision.