Paragon strengthens bridging leadership team with two senior appointments

Paragon Bank has appointed Kate Cooper (pictured above, left) as senior bridging underwriter and Swaraj Dada (right) as head of bridging credit as it continues to build its newly created bridging finance team.

The appointments strengthen the specialist team being assembled by Colin Sanders, managing director of bridging finance, ahead of the proposition's wider launch.

Swaraj brings 16 years of banking experience, including 12 years in credit.

Most recently, he helped build Afin Bank from inception through to launch and was previously part of the team that established Recognise Bank.

His career also includes roles at RBS and Unity Trust Bank, with a focus on building and scaling lending firms and credit functions.

In his new role, Swaraj will oversee all lending and credit activity across the bridging proposition, including credit policy, risk management, underwriting and portfolio oversight.

Kate brings more than a decade of specialist property finance experience.

She previously worked at Paragon between 2015 and 2019 in the bank’s mortgages division, before joining specialist lender BIG Property Finance where she worked closely with the management team on the growth of its bridging business.

Before entering specialist finance, Kate spent eight years at West Bromwich Building Society, gaining experience across multiple areas of the business before moving into underwriting.

Colin commented: “Building the right team is fundamental to our ambition of creating the most trusted specialist bridging lender in the market.

“Swaraj and Kate both bring significant experience, deep technical expertise and a genuine understanding of what brokers and customers need from a bridging lender.

"As the market evolves, customers are placing greater importance on certainty, transparency and dependable delivery. These appointments strengthen our ability to provide exactly that."

Swaraj said: “Throughout my career I’ve been drawn to opportunities where I can help build something from the ground up.

“Having helped establish and scale several banking businesses, the opportunity to join Paragon and help create a new bridging proposition was a natural next step.

“Paragon’s reputation for integrity and sustainability gives us a unique opportunity to bring greater confidence to the bridging sector, while building a proposition that supports customers and brokers for years to come.”

Kate added: “What attracted me to Paragon was the opportunity to be part of a new proposition from day one, while working for a business with an outstanding reputation and heritage in specialist lending.

“Having a trusted and established bank like Paragon entering the sector helps reinforce that evolution and raises confidence in the market as a whole.”

The bridging finance proposition will sit alongside Paragon's established development finance and SME lending businesses within its commercial lending division.