role of the bridging lender trade body the Association of Short Term Lenders was consequently dragged into the spotlight with various lenders including Lowry Capital and Precise Mortgages walking out on the trade body. Many have suggested there must be a more rigorous attempt at self-regulation in the bridging market if the industry is to pre- empt heavy handed regulation doled out by the FSA but to date nothing has been set in stone. Blemain Group is not a member
of the ASTL and Bailey explains this is due to the proliferation of trade bodies available for short-term lenders. He believes the Council of Mortgage Lenders, Finance & Leasing Association and the National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers between them currently have Blemain Group’s interests covered. But the topic of trade bodies, self-regulation and perhaps more critically transparency of behaviour in sector because of the underlap of existing rules and regulation prompts Bailey to share his views. “It’s by no means a level playing field as it is,” he says. “We do regulated lending as well as unregulated and that means we have certain principles we adopt across our businesses under the Blemain Group regardless of what kind of lending we’re doing. That’s probably one of the challenges for any professional body that tries to impose guidelines or set standards of behaviour - it’s hard. You can only apply those to your members and that doesn’t mean everyone.”
FUTURE Bailey is one of those reassuringly moderate men. He doesn’t appear to fall into the category of alpha male that so often dominates the bridging sector’s senior personalities. So when he talks about the future of bridging it’s a
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“I think you’ll see lenders settle more into their niches and where they’re comfortable lending”
less bombastic view he has than many of his counterparts. “The bridging market has
expanded fast in recent years and the profile of the market has risen dramatically from what it was three or four years ago,” he says. “But there’s only so much business out there that you can adapt for SMEs or buy-to- let investors so how far will it continue to grow? It’s probably restricted. But putting a number on that limit is impossible – we don’t even know how big the market is at the moment – there are so many lenders out there that don’t submit any numbers to anyone at all.”
The £1bn that many in the
market guess at is what Bailey calls “the lending we know about”. “I don’t think we’re going to see massive growth this year though,” he says. “Instead I think you’ll see lenders settle more into their niches and where they’re comfortable lending. You’ve got the M25 arena, you’ve got people who want to lend £15m bridges and then those who want to lend £150,000 bridges. The market is going to break down in terms of what lenders actually want to do instead of going out saying they want to be all things to all people. They don’t.” Part of the driving factor behind this is brokers, says Bailey.
“They need to know where to place business and I think that, combined with the emergence of the product sourcing engines, will break the myth a little bit. It’s too complex to do it 100% but it will move further down that route this year.”
What he’s much clearer on is that in order to survive and grow the industry must clean its act up and embrace professionalism and decent standards. To that end he reveals the group is planning significant investment in service and technology to position it to take advantage of these changes. “Any poor reputation is going to be damaging for a market so it has to be about the customer and a good outcome for them,” he says. Bailey’s view may be moderate and balanced and it reflects in many ways his description of the lender’s appetite. How this plays out in an increasingly cut throat competitive marketplace remains to be seen but if Blemain Group’s four decades in the game are anything to go by Bailey will be one to watch.
The man behind the mask
Age: 44 Born: Near Wigan Lives: Near Bolton Family: Married, three children aged 17, 8 and 1 Supports: Wigan Warriors rugby league and Liverpool FC If you had to choose? Rugby is my real love Why? It’s much more fearsome as a contact sport, much more competitive. If someone goes down on a football pitch, they get tapped on the ankle and roll around for half an hour, not in rugby. It’s fast, skilful and the players are exceptional athletes. It’s almost impossible to get a boring 0-0 score line, every game is exciting, particularly when it is viewed live.
BrIDGInG InTrODucer MAY 2012 31
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