Cover
Rocking the status quo
Bridgebank is one of the old boys in the bridging market but fierce competition is pushing them to rock their own status quos. Sarah Davidson finds out how
Sometimes people surprise you. Laurence Goodman, chief executive of Bridgebank Capital, is one of those people. Did you know for instance that he’s in a band? He plays guitar. Rock and blues. And tours. And gets paid for it. And loves it. He’s passionate about
music. After a 12 hour day in Bridgebank’s Manchester office he’ll drive home, pack his gear in the car and drive miles and miles to play a gig with his band mates. He’s a loyal person. Fiercely in fact. And he’s more creative than you might think. Goodman, 56, is also one of a handful of players in the bridging market who’s been in
it for the long haul. A chartered accountant by training, Goodman has specialised in the SME sector of corporate finance most of his career. He’s been in bridging since 1999 after being approached to prepare a business plan and arrange finance for three different bridging lenders before setting Bridgebank up himself with two “silent” partners. The game has changed he tells me, but his determination to win remains. “The whole world of bridging
has changed completely,” explains Goodman. “Since 2008 we’ve changed the profile of who we’ve lent to and changed our underwriting. The result is I haven’t had a default in three and
“The whole world of bridging has changed completely. Since 2008 we’ve changed the profile of who we’ve lent to and changed our underwriting. The result is I haven’t had a default in three and a half years of lending”
28 BRIDGInG InTRoDuCER MARCH 2012
a half years of lending.” That’s impressive given the stats
the Financial Services Authority released in the Mortgage Market Review. The FSA found that the average term of a bridging loan is around eight months and in February 2011 some 33% of all bridging loans needed to have the term extended. “Pre-Credit Crunch I think it’s
fair to say that bridging was second resort and our line was pretty much to sub-prime borrowers and non-status. That has changed. All the people we lend to now have got good financial standing and are probably experienced property entrepreneurs. They know what they’re doing and are always confident the exit can be delivered. “The fallout of the Credit
Crunch was on the one hand all lenders took a lot of pain – ourselves included – but if you’ve got it right all the lending done since 2008 should have been to good quality borrowers. And therefore you should be performing very well now.” Goodman’s understanding of that performance is a loan book he says churns every five months. That’s significantly lower than the
www.mortgageintroducer.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40