Liverpool based bridging lender Hope Capital has trebled the size of its business development team by recruiting five new staff and a head of marketing as part of its growth strategy.
The new staff will predominantly take up business development roles, with a focus on providing more direct and hands-on support to brokers. The hope is that this will enable Hope Capital to maintain its high levels of service even while continuing to grow rapidly.
Jonathan Sealey, CEO of Hope Capital, explains the growth is exciting but that it won't come at a cost to quality of service as the business gets to grips with the continued demand for loans. He said:
“These appointments mark the next stage of Hope Capital’s growth strategy. We more than doubled in size last year and we are continuing to grow rapidly, but our priority is ensuring that our service remains exemplary even with the rapidly increasing demand for our loans.
“Quick decision making and turnaround times, as well as the fact that brokers can rely on us to do what we say we will, are the key reasons brokers and their clients return to us again and again. These new appointments will ensure that this remains the case.”
The recruitment drive sees Emma Tempest joining to look after the Midlands and East Anglia, while Stephen Allen will look after brokers in the South West and Wales. This will complement the existing BDM team with Maria Magnussen in London and the South East and Wayne Lee who looks after the north of England.
The external BDM team will be assisted by an expanded internal team whose role it is to help brokers with case submissions, ensuring they can always speak to someone on the phone and cases are turned around as quickly as possible.
Two new faces will join the team with Christopher Buckley joining this week and Debbie Wilson joining in a month’s time. They will be the first point of contact for the growing numbers of brokers calling Hope Capital for help and advice and information on exactly how Hope Capital can meet the demands of their clients.
A spokesman explains:
"As Hope Capital lends on a wide range of cases, it looks at every case on an individual basis, often being able to lend where other lenders cannot by taking a common-sense approach, even on the more unique cases.
"It also increasingly helps brokers who have been let down at the last minute by other lenders. The internal team will ensure that Hope Capital’s service remains exceptional and the lender continues to achieve its service targets, offering terms within an hour of each enquiry."
In addition to the broker facing BDM team, Hope Capital is taking on a new head of marketing. Miriam Howarth, who was formerly an associate director of iProspect, is joining to "develop and enhance Hope Capital’s brand strategy, increase the number of broker events that Hope Capital holds and help build relationships with brokers and key partners".