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.

Relationship Managers

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Josh Barrett

Associate Relationship Manager

Josh is the firm’s first Associate Relationship Manager, having first gained valuable experience supporting our team of Relationship Mangers. This role builds on his early experience and ensures he is well on the way to becoming a fully-fledged RM.

Josh is now tasked with generating new business by building relationships with brokers and borrowers new to the firm and visiting development sites. He manages his own deals from initial enquiry through to completion and then the critical step, redemption of funds. Essentially the same role as an RM, just with a primary focus of building up his network of key brokers, which in time will lead to a strong pipeline of deals.

Outside work, Josh enjoys watching rugby, particularly if there is the opportunity to sample a beer or two, which ensures plenty of encouragement from a Signature team that shares his passion for hops and the oval ball.

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Sean Carbery

Relationship Manager

Sean recently joined our experienced short-term property finance team, and he is the Relationship Manager tasked with supporting property developers, property investors and finance brokers throughout the Midlands.

With more than a decade of experience in financial institutions such as Lloyd's Banking Group, he joins Signature with a reputation for delivering excellent client service, which is the core of our offering.

Sean is always keen to visit a development site anywhere in the Midlands to understand a client’s vision and how best we can support them with our brand of bridging, refurbishment and development finance.

He also expects to work closely with brokers and intermediaries to tailor short-term property finance solutions to meet the needs of their clients and help maximise the potential of any development.

Outside of work, Sean enjoys travelling and has visited many interesting countries, as well as enjoying skiing in the winter months. Sean is very family orientated and enjoys going for morning coffees with his wife or meeting his two brothers for a beer.

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Alan Coats

Lending Manager (Scotland)

Alan heads up our business north of the border as Lending Manager, 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 30 years’ industry experience, he is renowned for his attention to detail and uncanny ability to work with clients and key stakeholders to deliver bridging, refurbishment, and development lending to the Scottish market.

Our business in Scotland has gone from strength to strength since our launch in the summer of 2019 and Alan’s ability to structure funding solutions for clients to meet their needs and to build strong relationships with brokers, clients and professionals have been key to this growth.

Away from the office, Alan enjoys a spot of fly fishing on the rivers and lochs of Scotland.

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Bob Stones

Relationship Manager

Bob is a well-known figure within the industry in the East of England area which he covers for Signature. He spent 27 years in the region as a Real Estate Finance Manager for NatWest and 5 years as a Relationship Manager for Together, 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.

In his spare time, Bob is a keen pianist and particularly fond of boogie-woogie and old-time music hall busking. His long-term ambition is to buy some land in Lapland and build his own log cabin to view the Northern Lights from.

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Richard Winston

Relationship Manager

Richard, the newest Relationship Manager in our growing and experienced short-term property finance team, is responsible for supporting property developers, property investors and finance brokers throughout the South East of England.

He brings to Signature, more than 20 years of experience in financial services, with previous roles at HSBC, Santander and most recently Cynergy Bank, where he developed his reputation as an excellent relationship-builder.

Richard understands the value of building strong client relationships, which is a core principle of our approach to lending, whether it’s a simple bridging loan or a more complex, ground-up development deal, taking ownership of each client’s application, guiding them from first contact through to completion.

He’s happiest when visiting a development site anywhere in the South East, applying years of experience to better understand a client’s vision and their need for short-term property finance.
Away from the office, Richard likes nothing better than spending quality time with family friends, or enjoying a good walk spoiled by the need to take golf clubs.

Senior Team

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Mike Clifford

Commercial Director

Mike joined our experienced short-term property finance team as the company’s first Commercial Director, with a remit to lead and develop our growing team of Relationship Managers. He brings with him almost two decades of experience within the Financial Services sector, with 11 of those at Santander followed by senior management roles at Hodge Bank, Glenhawk and OakNorth.

An innovator with a unique talent for product delivery, strategic planning, risk management and team leadership, Mike has both the knowledge and expertise needed to deliver on Signature’s ambitious long-term objectives. As a key member of the senior management team, it is his responsibility to shape our diverse product offering and service experience to better reflect the changing needs of the market.

Outside of work, Mike is a passionate fan of his hometown football club, Liverpool, taking the time to travel to games when he’s not enjoying quality time with his wife, two children and dog.

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Tony Gilbertson BSc (Hons)

CEO

Tony is an experienced financier, with over 30 years’ experience of the property finance market. He worked for a major high street bank holding several lending roles in a managerial capacity, including as a regional underwriter, concentrating predominately on real estate lending.

He also has many subsequent years practical experience as both a property developer and commercial finance broker. His claim to fame is having had the privilege to have played rugby, admittedly many decades ago, alongside the best outside half of the 20th century.

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Thomas Howells

Chief Operating Officer

Thomas is our Chief Operating Officer and leads our in-house legal team. He trained as a Commercial Property solicitor in a Cardiff-based niche law firm before moving to a specialist property law firm where he progressed to Partner level in their Commercial Property department.

In his previous role, Thomas was predominantly representing and advising banks in the field of secured lending in order to perfect their security for their commercial loans. He also advised many clients on their acquisitions and financing of Commercial Properties, developing unrivalled knowledge and understanding of the entire process, from the lending side through to the legal process.

Thomas is a keen golfer, but when not watching or playing sport he enjoys taxying his children from A to B to C and back home.

He once met Shane Warne when Australia played Glamorgan on tour and although he signed his autograph, Shane told Thomas to ‘go away quickly’ in ‘industrial’ language because Tom, oblivious to the on-going match, had run across the pitch in the middle of the over to secure the autograph.

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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.

Trevor

Trevor Melly

Credit & Risk Director

Trevor brings a wealth of banking and property finance experience to the role of Credit & Risk Director, having 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.

Support Team

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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 regions for Signature and is based in our busy Cardiff head 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.

As a family man Chris likes to spend time with his 4 children. He is an avid Wales and long-suffering Ospreys rugby supporter and, many moons ago, was fortunate enough to have played in the centre with ex Wales and British and Irish Lions centre Allan Bateman.

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Nazmin Choudhary

Client Relationship Executive

Nazmin is a highly successful individual with a vast range of banking experience, exposure to extensive banking involvement within Retail Banking, Business Banking and the Insurance sectors have enabled her to grasp thorough and detailed knowledge of the world of Banking and Finance.

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

Nazmin works within the Lending team, she is responsible to manage the pipeline of cases through to completion ensuring both company service standards and the regulatory requirements are adhered to throughout the process.

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George Jones

Client Relationship Executive

After achieving a first-class honours degree in Economics at Cardiff University, George joined our experienced short-term property finance team as a Client Relationship Executive, where he can utilise his exceptional personal skills and academic ability to support our Relationship Managers.

A driven, self-motivated and enthusiastic individual who can work confidently both independently and within a team, George is conscientious with a keen eye for detail, having honed his skills in data manipulation, statistical analysis and modelling during his final year of study.

When he's not at work, George loves to spend quality time with his family and friends. He is a keen football player and Chelsea supporter. In addition, he enjoys running and recently finished the Cardiff Half Marathon, with plans to tackle a full marathon in the near future.

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George Lowry

Client Relationship Executive

Originally from rural West-Wales and a fluent Welsh speaker, George moved to Cardiff to study Business Management at Cardiff Metropolitan University, enjoying the city so much he decided to stay. George’s studies and a previous role in customer service have given him a great foundation on which to build his career here at Signature.

As a member of our Lending Team, with a hands-on role supporting our Relationship Managers, he helps progress deals, undertakes searches and manages the necessary electronic documentation to support loan applications. He is focussed on mastering the lending process with the aim of progressing to become a Relationship Manager.

Having grown up on the family dairy farm, George loves the outdoor life and enjoys anything sport related, playing regularly for his local football team. Unfortunately, he is a long-suffering Manchester United fan – his words not ours!

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Sam Pescott

Client Relationship Executive

Sam recently joined our short-term property finance team as a Client Relationship Executive through our Graduate Employment scheme, having achieved a degree in Consumer Behaviour and Marketing at Reading University.

Hardworking, enthusiastic and highly motivated, Sam has spent two years working for a Cardiff-based family run property management company in a part-time capacity, which gave him valuable insight into the property industry. This experience paired with his recent education, gives him all the skills needed to support the efforts of our Relationship Managers.

Outside of work, Sam enjoys spending quality time with family and friends, whether it be watching the football, playing different sports with a competitive spirit, or staying active in the gym.

Nazia

Nazia Yaqub

Client Relationship Executive

With more than 14 years’ experience in various banking roles, including leading a team as an assistant branch manager on the high street, Nazia possesses extensive finance sector experience. Nazia works within the core of our business which is our Lending Team, ensuring a smooth and efficient process from enquiry to completion.

She understands the importance of schedules and deadlines for all our customers, irrespective of loan size. Nazia is passionate about customer service and liaises with brokers and clients daily, understanding each client’s needs whilst strengthening our commitment to delivering excellent customer service.

In her spare time when Nazia is not working she is probably reading/writing or watching documentaries. She also enjoys spending quality time with her family and friends.

Legal Team

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Rhodri O'Reilly

Legal Counsel

Rhodri is our Legal Counsel, he provides internal legal advice to the Signature team to ensure the borrowing process is as smooth as possible from a legal perspective. He qualified as a solicitor in 2020 after training in a niche property-only law firm in Cardiff.

In his previous role, Rhodri specialised in secured lending acting for banks, bridging lenders, property developers and large-portfolio landlords. This experience has given Rhodri a pragmatic approach to the legal process as he has acted for both bank and borrower.

Outside of work, Rhodri is a huge football enthusiast and Swansea City fan. He also enjoys the occasional round of golf.