January 2018
By Jon Salisbury, Managing Director, Ortus Secured Finance
Ortus Secured Finance enjoyed an excellent 2017, finishing very strongly with December being one of our best-ever months for completions. Our loan book has grown significantly throughout the year and we have continued to improve our team, bringing in some excellent new members of staff.
Our success came against a background of a number of uncertainties within the industry. The economic, political and regulatory landscape has been unstable at times over the past two years. Alongside this, new entrants, re-entrants and strong pricing competition has forced companies to rethink their business strategies.
Like many of our competitors, Ortus has thrived under these conditions, becoming a stronger, more professional business as a result of these challenges.
Over the years, the Association of Bridging Professionals (AOBP) has done an excellent job in representing both us and the industry more widely. However, as our industry has grown and evolved, it is only right that our trade body evolves, too. We are delighted to be a founding member of FIBA, our new trade body, and to be part of the founding Lender Committee.
FIBA aims to bring together the outstanding lenders and operators in our industry, creating a community where stakeholders can share ideas and best practice. FIBA can help raise standards and create a culture of excellence. In the past, perceptions of our industry may have differed from the reality in some quarters. But FIBA is a new opportunity to present ourselves and let people know about the outstanding work businesses are doing across the sector.
This is only possible with the support of the entire industry. It will require committee members to be fully engaged with FIBA, and for them to take advantage of all the opportunities FIBA can provide. From networking opportunities to industry events, FIBA aims to create a calendar that stakeholders can engage with and benefit from.
It is also important to remember the vital work a trade body can do for an industry like ours which, while vibrant and growing, is still small relative to the mainstream mortgage market. FIBA can be our collective voice that represents our interests when speaking to the FCA, Treasury and other government bodies and organisations which impact our industry.
Finally, it remains difficult for borrowers to reach the specialist services our industry provides – people just don’t know enough about our industry. Educating people is a long process and requires strong dialogue with the media. We need to make people aware of the vital service our sectors provide to businesses across the UK and further afield. FIBA will focus heavily on this, ensuring media bodies receive a constant stream of information about our industry and the critical part it can play for borrowers across the country.
We look forward to working with all of you to make a success of FIBA and to help the industry go from strength to strength in the coming years.