June 2018
By Andrea Juniper, director at Only Bridging
When we talk about specialist markets, there are many to choose from. For my part, I have worked in a number of them over the years but for the last 20, my time as a packager has been divided between the second mortgage market and bridging (short-term finance).
The latter was not by choice. It was a move in 2009 that was brought on by the collapse in the second mortgage market – a market that I had enjoyed for the best part of 20 years.
It was an industry I knew and understood. I knew my competition, there was plenty of business and while the market was competitive, we each enjoyed our own growth and respected one another’s successes.
We all know and, understandably, don’t want to relive what happened when our business world fell apart but at that time, I needed to find another string to my professional bow. The second mortgage market had been my world for so long, I needed to find something else to focus on and grow with.
I had no idea, coming from what I would describe as a structured industry, how to switch to such a time-critical environment and this seemed to be my greatest challenge. There didn’t seem to be an order of service. I was working with lenders, solicitors and, as I quickly realised, clients who often employed the services of a legal team with little or no bridging experience and would, at some point, experience some kind of frustration which I would then need to manage.
Lenders lending against a variety of securities took a little while to adjust to. I had a whole new set of rules to learn.
I needed to meet and get to know a new lending panel and they needed to get to know me too. I wanted to understand what they wanted from me and my business – and then the hard work began. I had to establish my business in an already thriving market and to prove ourselves all over again.
I also learned that to be a good packager in this industry, you have to listen to your clients and understand what they want. You then need to understand your lending panel and know exactly who does what.
It’s important, when someone tells you they need to have funds in a certain timescale, to consider whether this is viable and to have the strength to say when it isn’t.
The short-term finance market is a place I have called home for around nine years now and I have been fortunate enough to have been able to develop my own knowledge and gather a team of people who share my ambition.
As a packager, I have access to a panel of lenders covering residential, commercial and development finance that are always happy to work with me to make sure the business written collectively is as good as it possibly can be.
Every lender, without exception, has been keen to work with us to help achieve our potential as a quality packager.