Meet the team

There are great opportunities in the highly competitive property market, but when you are seeking finance, you need a responsive service from people that understand the sector, see the value you see and can make decisions fast. Assembling a team of specialists, experienced in every aspect of the property market, not only allows us to make all our lending decisions in-house, but ensures we work with you, to find ways to lend, not reasons to turn you down.

Chris Buttle

Lending Manager

Chris is a familiar face amongst the South Wales business community, having spent more than 35 years in a variety of roles with HSBC bank across the region. He covers the south and west form our busy Cardiff office.

Chris assesses and approves short-term property finance applications within our approved lending mandate. He is very positive by nature and combines an unrivalled understanding of bridging finance with a pro-active attitude to underwriting, which ensures we always make informed lending decisions, as quickly as possible.

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Nazmin Choudhary

Client Relationship Executive

Nazmin has developed a reputation for the strong client relationships she establishes and her ability to plan, analyse, organise and adapt to situations in highly pressurised environments, whilst remaining confident, good humoured and professional.

Alan Coats

Lending Manager (Scotland)

Alan is our first Lending Manager to be based in Scotland. He is well known on the east coast, having been an Area Director for the Bank of Scotland in a previous role, with a clear understanding of where the main property hotspots are and the funding needs of property developers.

A highly regarded senior management professional with over 20 years’ industry experience, he is renowned for his attention to detail and uncanny ability to work with a huge number of interested parties at the same time to keep deals on schedule.

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Tony Gilbertson BSc (Hons)

CEO

Tony is an experienced financier, with over 25 years’ experience of the property finance market. He worked for a major high street bank for over 15 years, holding a number of lending roles in a managerial capacity, concentrating on real estate lending.

Tony is experienced in property finance risk management, credit risk & analysis and debt recovery having operated as a regional underwriter for the bank. He also has many years practical experience of the residential property development and investment markets, whilst maintaining his other commercial business interests.

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David Hughes

Finance Director

David is a well-rounded, commercially strong Chartered Accountant with a legal background. He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to this role and will help guide the strategic development of our business. His main goal though, is to ensure we have the necessary internal controls and reporting procedures in place to cope with our growth.

David has a strong history of managing the finance function, working with owner managed SME’s to large multinational PLCs. He has great experience of both the fine detail and big picture thinking required by modern short-term lenders like Signature.

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Trevor Melly

Lending Manager

Trevor brings a wealth of banking and property finance experience to the role of Lending Manager. He’s previously been a Mortgage Underwriter with Bank of Ireland and an Account Relationship Manager in the Corporate Real Estate Team at Mizrahi Tefahot Bank.

Trevor is responsible for assessing and approving property finance applications within our approved lending mandate. He combines strong analytical skills with sound judgement and a pragmatic approach to underwriting to ensure we always make informed lending decisions, in the shortest time possible.

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Andy Neocleous

Relationship Manager

Andy is a welcome addition to our Relationship Management team, combining years of experience as a Commercial Portfolio Manager for Natwest with more recent expertise in bridging and development finance. His easy-going confident manner helps build strong relationships with our clients.

Already in possession of a Business Management degree, Andy is in the process of becoming CeMAP qualified, which will allow him to practice as a ‘licensed’ adviser. He has extensive connections across London and the South, which are both important growth areas for our business.

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Bob Stones

Relationship Manager

Bob is well known in the East of England, having spent 27 years in the region as a Real Estate Finance Manager for NatWest, with extensive experience working with house builders, commercial developers, residential and commercial property investors and individual buy-to-let landlords.

He will work closely with brokers and intermediaries to tailor short-term property finance solutions to suit the individual needs of their clients and is always happy to make site visits across Lincolnshire, Yorkshire and the North East, to get a true understanding of investment and development potential.

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Stephen Todd

VAS In-House Surveyor

Stephen is a chartered surveyor and a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. A former Director of Jones Lang LaSalle in Manchester, he is a registered valuer with a wealth of experience at all levels in the property market.

Stephen is renowned for his ability to carry out valuation auditing and provide advice to our lending team, on all property types and sectors across the UK, identifying property specific valuation. His experience provides an important additional level of protection with regard to our management of risk.

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Paul Tromans

National Development Manager, Relationship Manager (Midlands)

What Paul doesn’t know about lending money to buy and develop property is not really worth knowing. He has more than 30 years’ lending experience after a long career in management positions with Bradford and Bingley, together with other short-term property finance businesses.

Based in the Midlands, Paul will be connecting with those developers across the UK seeking development finance (ground up). He’ll also be connecting with property developers, investors and finance brokers to ensure they understand our low bridging rates, fast decisions and high-quality customer service.

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Michelle Walsh

Relationship Manager

Michelle brings vast experience to her role, with more than a decade in various positions with Barclays Bank, including managing business critical operations within the Intermediary Mortgage channel – she’s a people person, with expertise in the alternative lending market.

She understands the importance of personal relationships and how best to help clients realise the funding they need, regardless of timescales and loan size. Michelle is CeMAP 1 & 3 qualified and well on the way to achieving her CeMAP 2 qualification, all of which will be put to good use within her extensive network across the South West and South Wales.

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Nazia Yaqub

Relationship Manager

With more than 14 years’ experience in various banking roles, including assistant branch manager on the high street, Naz strengthens our commitment to delivering excellent customer service, from enquiry to draw-down. She understands the importance of schedules and deadlines for all our customers, irrespective of loan size.

Naz possesses an excellent commercial approach to solving problems and helping develop our business. In her role as Relationship Manager, she will undoubtedly help our clients achieve the outcomes they desire, whilst helping Signature grow.

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