Winners have been celebrating after the gongs were dished out at the prestigious 2018 Bridging & Commercial Awards.
Some 20 businesses and individuals who excelled over the past 12 months were rewarded as the great and the good from the worlds of bridging, commercial, development and alternative finance industries gathered to enjoy the B&C 10th birthday-themed event.
The glitzy bash -- sponsored by Masthaven -- took place at the exclusive Hurlingham Club in Fulham, London. And among the more than 600 guests who attended the swanky affair, none could have been happier than this representing Together.
The company received three awards following the announcement that it was chosen as Regulated and Commercial Lender of the Year, while Underwriter of the Year went to Mike Schofield.
Marc Goldberg, commercial CEO at Together, spoke of his joy at the success. He said:
“We’re delighted to have taken the commercial lender title for the second year in succession, as well as winning Regulated Lender of the Year and we’d like to thank everyone that supported us.
“We all know Mike Schofield is a tremendous underwriter and an asset to the company, but it’s great that his talents have been rewarded with the Underwriter of the Year title and he should be very proud.”
Meanwhile, D'mitri Zaprzala, head of sales at Octopus Property, says winning two awards – Bridging Lender of the Year and Development Lender of the Year – is testament to the hard work put in by his team. The company was also highly commended in the Commercial Lender of the Year category and for Lender Service Excellence. He said:
"These awards are recognition of the hard work and success of the whole team over the past 12 months, a period which has seen Octopus Property achieve a number of milestones, including passing £3bn of lending, launching a number of new products and significantly growing the talented team.
Likewise, Stephen Burns was just as delighted as he saw Adapt Finance collect two awards as Best Bridging Broker and also an award for service excellence. Octane Capital won the Newcomer of the Year award and managing director Mark Posniak offered plaudits to his team for their achievement.
Jack Coombs, director of Aspen Bridging, said it was an "honour" to win the Specialist Product of the Year award with its 80% LTV product, while Harley Kagan, managing director at United Trust Bank was named Specialist Bank of the Year and hailed it as a "fantastic award to win".
Newcomer of the Year
Best Use of Fintech
Alternative Lender of the Year
Best Bridging Broker
Best Bridging Partner
Best Commercial Broker
Specialist Bank of the Year
Best Development Broker
Specialist Product of the Year
Underwriter of the Year
Development Lender of the Year
Commercial Lender of the Year
Best Specialist Distributor
Lender Relationship Manager of the Year
Regulated Lender of the Year
Service Excellence – Brokers
Service Excellence – Lenders
Most Supportive Company
Bridging Lender of the Year
Outstanding Contribution Award