On Wednesday 17 January, we held the latest of our ‘Lender’s Listen & Lunch’ events at The Ivy Winchester, inviting professional finance brokers from the surrounding region to enjoy a little food and drink with our team, while getting to know us better.
Our host for the event was Josh Barrett, a talented Associate Relationship Manager in the lending team here at Signature, who came to us via our Graduate Programme, having studied Business & Management (Finance) at Cardiff Metropolitan University.
As a business, we recognise the traditional path through the high-street banking system, with decades of experience developing a unique insight into lending and short-term property finance has become a less sustainable model in recent years, given the loss of local banking teams.
Bringing talented individuals like Josh into our business at an early stage in their career, allows us to demonstrate the opportunities available to hard-working, committed people, who really understand short-term property finance.
Perhaps more importantly, we can outline the unique approach Signature has developed and inspire our younger team members that meeting with clients to develop strong personal relationships is the future of lending in the property development sector.
Our clients and prospects want to meet with us, ideally on site, to explain their vision for the development of the property they want Signature to fund. Only with trust on both sides of the deal, does the process work as efficiently and effectively as everyone needs it to.
The time Josh spent studying and now working within our business has given him a great foundation on which to build his career, with a hands-on role supporting our broker and property develop clients, whilst providing the valuable real-world experience he needs to develop.
As a member of our Lending Team, he helped progress deals, undertook searches and managed the necessary electronic documentation to support loan applications. But now he is developing the personal relationships with brokers and developers on which our business is built.
Winchester proves fertile ground
The event in Winchester was designed to introduce a select few of the professional local brokers to Signature and our style of business. But we also treat these occasions as good opportunities to hear from prospects what it is exactly they look for in lenders new to them.
Taking our brand ambassador, Wales rugby legend Scott Quinnell, is always going to ensure we have the room’s attention. He epitomises our approach, with his honest and engaging insight into the world of professional elite sport. His stories reflect our desire to engage with our honest proposition of what is possible and how we always follow through on what we say we’re going to do.
We lunched and entertained the brokers, all of whom genuinely seemed interested in Signature and our approach to short-term property finance. As one broker quipped on the day, “Teams is okay, but I want to shake hands and meet the person I’m going to do business with; it’s all about trust.”
Pleased with the contacts made and the prospect of working with a number of professional brokers in the South, the event will be marked up another success, particularly given the tour of Winchester’s pubs we were given and curry to round off the night.
Our next event is in Manchester on 7 February and is already fully booked. But if you’d like to come and hear about our unique approach to lending, whilst enjoying a few sporting tales and an excellent lunch at an Ivy Restaurant near you, look out for news of upcoming ‘Lender’s Listen & Lunch’ events.