March 2020
Adam Tyler, Executive Chairman, FIBA
FIBA - A GOOD PLACE TO BE
The FIBA team remains wholly committed to the seamless continuation of support of our members through these challenging times. Our team is very much focussed on delivering quality of service and from our perspective, it is very much business as usual and we are here to support you across all areas of your business.
We will continue to communicate with you on a regular basis to keep you up to speed on the activity of our lender and professional partners panels, the latest compliance information and various ways in which we can support your technology and digital capabilities.
Your access to a constantly growing lender panel, a unique professional partners’ panel with the most experienced law firms and surveyors working in our sector and the backing of SimplyBiz Group, remains constant and FIBA members are therefore the best equipped to help business owners during these difficult times.
It is to that end that I would like to say that from inception it was always the aim of FIBA to deliver services that would benefit the specialist property finance industry that we serve. To do that we have developed an organisation which has rewritten the rulebook for the way that trade bodies operate.
While we believe passionately that our trade body should be a focal point which represents members and champions the SME sector in the wider world, FIBA is far more than a just a representative body with a comforting logo for members’ letterheads. Rather, it is a truly dynamic organisation offering members real practical support including access to a growing and properly vetted lender panel, an innovative PI block policy scheme and a world class comprehensive compliance package.
However, from my past experience, I also wanted to ensure that FIBA members had access to the best sources for legal, insurance and surveying expertise with hands on experience of the commercial sector, which led to the setting up of our professional partners panel. It made perfect sense to include them as part of the Financial Intermediary and Broker Association.
Their addition to our membership has given us a wider perspective across the whole industry and has allowed us to take on board thoughts, opinions and requirements that have helped us better shape our plans for specialist property finance. These plans are for the benefit of the whole Industry and of course all our customers, both those of our broker members and our lender partners.
But at a practical level, what real difference has it made? I can confirm that commercial property transactions have been concluded successfully that otherwise would have failed to complete because members have chosen to work with our professional partner panel. It is a bold statement but having legal firms on both sides which fully understand how a bridging, development finance or commercial mortgage transaction entails, means that a successful conclusion is a much more likely result.
Our Professional Partners Panel is a crucial innovation in our sector and the original resource from which members can source a law firm for their customers. We are proud to have been the leaders in setting up this vital service and it continues to grow and evolve and we welcome new firms who have been vetted to provide the service our members and partners expect for their customers.