Cover
You’re hired
When Lord Alan Sugar fired 2010 Apprentice candidate, Liz Locke, no-one expected him to admit he’d made a mistake. But admit it he did, too late, and bridging lender Omni Capital won the day. Sarah Davidson talks to Omni about how its latest recruit is doing
Faced with the sleek, smart and sales savvy former Apprentice contestant Liz Locke across a board room table what would cross your mind? “You’re hired.” These are the words that Lord Alan Sugar admitted in a rare moment of regret he should have delivered to 26-year old Locke in last year’s series of BBC show The Apprentice.
But he missed his chance having been
talked round by the infamous Stuart Baggs who pipped Locke to the final five. It was property magnates the Candy brothers who stepped in to offer Locke a job as development director at short- term lender Omni Capital – a joint venture embarked on late last year with London- based mortgage broker Mortgage Centre IFA.
“I was offered hundreds of jobs after the show aired,” says Locke, pretty humbly considering. “I couldn’t believe it. It was complete role reversal from the usual scenario of sending your CV to so many companies; they were sending me job descriptions about why I should join them.
“It varied from smaller start ups to big brand businesses where they wanted me to come in at a fairly senior level and head up a department. It was amazing.” But sitting waiting for the offers to roll
32 mortgage introducer APRIL 2011
in isn’t what got Locke in front of Lord Sugar and it isn’t what put her in front of Nick Candy.
“Funnily enough I approached Candy & Candy myself and sent my CV here because I liked the way they did things,” she says.
“I’d seen One Hyde Park in the press a lot and watched them turn around the critics, create that opportunity and achieve the development with such success. That’s why I wanted to work with them and it seemed like fate because they were setting up Omni Capital at exactly the time I got in touch. I’m interested in property anyway and with my finance background it was the perfect fit.”
Locke was hired on the spot and began working with the Omni team, headed up by Paul Munford, also managing director of MCIFA.
The business launched in late November 2010 offering mezzanine finance secured on mainly central London property to a cash strapped market. Locke’s role is threefold: to develop the branding and credibility of Omni; to develop distribution relationships to increase business volumes; and to develop commercial relationships with future funders to support future growth. Currently the business has an open
ended £50 million funding line in place from Christian Candy’s Guernsey-based property and finance company, CPC Group.
Locke and Omni’s chief executive
Munford are already in talks with a further four potential sources of finance including one hedge fund Munford says is ready to sign on the dotted line. The others include banks and a sovereign wealth fund.
Crossing the bridge So what was it that attracted Locke to the bridging market and Omni Capital in particular? “My role is pretty broad but it’s like any new business – we have to get the brand out there and get people interested,” she says.
“I think Omni Capital has a lot to offer.
We have an innovative approach to structuring the deals we do and our team is very experienced. We’ve seen a lot of deals through our doors already and clients very satisfied with our approach and speed of delivery.”
In the few months Locke has been at Omni Capital she seems to have got her head around the bridging market quick smart. “It’s an exciting market to be in at the moment,” she says. “There’s a huge gap for quality, reliable funding. That’s the key
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