2022 Speakers
We are delighted to host an inspiring cross-section of panellists in connection with the Knowledge Bank Live Criteria Clinics. Click on the photos to view a short bio on each speaker, as well as information about the conference session in which they feature.
Panel Sessions will last 45 minutes and Rapid Fires are approx 25 minutes long. Rapid Fires will consist of pre-submitted questions and audience interaction only, as we challenge our experts to tackle as many queries and place as many deals as possible. Panel Sessions will involve a larger panel of lenders and a good deal of background and context as a backdrop to audience participation.
If you're interested in being a speaker or panellist at the 2023 expo, contact Megan Goncalves on [email protected] or call 0203 818 0168.
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Nicola FirthFounder and CEO
Nicola will be chairing all five of the sessions:
10.30am Panel – Buy-to-let inc. HMOs, MUFBs and Ltd Co Lending
11.30am Panel – Commercial Lending
12.30 Rapid Fire – Bridging inc. Auction Finance
1.30pm Panel – Development Finance
2.30pm Rapid Fire – Second Charges
Nicola Firth was a mortgage broker for 13 years, first as an appointed representative then directly authorised with her own brokerage for seven years. Frustration as a broker of finding the best rate for a client but discovering the lender wouldn’t accept the criteria – and neither would the next lender on the list or even the one after that, led her to found Knowledge Bank in 2016, the UK’s first criteria search system.
After 18 months development and testing Knowledge Bank launched officially in September 2017. In just over year it has grown significantly and now holds over 90,000 different criteria, from more than 200 lenders, across eight different lending types, including Residential, Buy To Let, Second Charge, Equity Release, Self Build, Overseas, Bridging and Commercial. Knowledge Bank enables brokers to search unlimited criteria and save all results, providing evidence of research on criteria for the very first time. The system is used widely throughout the intermediary mortgage industry by brokers, networks and clubs.
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Jack CoombsDirector
12.30 Rapid Fire – Bridging inc. Auction Finance
Jack Coombs is a founding Director of Aspen Bridging, which is an 100% equity financed lender specialising in rapid and high LTV bridging.Jack started in PwC’s London transactions department where he qualified as an ACA accountant and worked on 11 major M&A deals including Lone Star’s acquisition of $5.2bln of Bank of Ireland property.
In 2015, Jack provided S&U PLC with deal structuring advice in the £82.5m disposal of Loans@Home4U.
This ultimately led to his leaving PwC and joining S&U that appointed him to establish a new Bridging Finance arm.
Aspen launched in February 2017 and has experienced a great reception from the broker market. At the 2018 Bridging and Commercial awards, Aspen was commended as Newcomer of the Year and won the Product of the Year award for its 80% LTV product.Jack has built a culture of customer focused service making Aspen a must have for broker panels.
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Juliet BaboolalPartner
1.30pm Panel – Development Finance
Juliet is a dual-qualified English Solicitor; she became a Lawyer in Trinidad and Tobago in 2003, and then re-qualified as a Solicitor of England and Wales in 2005. Juliet has practised as a Commercial Property lawyer and litigator in England since 2005 and is also a qualified mediator.
Juliet’s experience in Property Litigation with an emphasis on Mortgage and Banking Law has proven invaluable to the real estate finance work which she undertakes at Seddons. She is a strategic thinker who is heavy on execution and delivery, and knowledgeable on all aspects of the issues and requirements of her clients.
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Marcus DussardSales Director
10.30am Panel – Buy-to-let inc. HMOs, MUFBs and Ltd Co Lending
Marcus has over 20 years’ experience in financial services. Before joining Hampshire Trust Bank (HTB) as Sales Director, Marcus held several roles at Castle Trust, most recently as Director of Sales.
At Castle Trust Marcus joined at launch, and helped them become a Bank. Prior to this Marcus worked in Fund Management/Investment Banking as a Business Development Manager for Old Mutual Asset Managers.
At HTB, Marcus leads the Specialist Mortgages sales team, dedicated to providing tailored solutions for complex requirements, including residential and commercial bridging, buy to let and semi-commercial mortgages. He is instrumental in the development of the HTB specialist mortgages proposition, maintaining constant dialogue with our brokers and major stakeholders.
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Scott MarshallManaging Director
1.30pm Panel – Development Finance
Having worked in the financial services sector for over 15 years, Scott has extensive experience in property lending, development finance & bridging loans. As an expert in specialist lending, Scott established Roma Finance in 2008, reinventing & simplifying the bridging process to materially reduce completion times to less than a third of the industry standard.
Scott’s vision for Roma Finance is to put customers at the centre of the process and increase efficiencies to benefit all involved parties, ultimately helping customers create wealth for themselves and their families.
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Jamie PritchardDirector of Sales
10.30am Panel – Buy-to-let inc. HMOs, MUFBs and Ltd Co Lending
Jamie has over 20 years of real estate lending experience and is responsible for establishing Glenhawk’s regional and national offering. He leads a team of Business Development Managers and Executives, with a focus on evolving Glenhawk’s product offering, while ensuring clients receive the best possible service and rates.
Recognition of Jamie’s industry success was demonstrated both in 2020 and 2021, upon winning Best Head of Sales at the prestigious British Specialist Lending Awards.
Jamie joined Glenhawk from Precise Mortgages, where he spent nearly seven years, with the last five as Head of Sales. During this time Jamie led a team of 15 sales managers, where he oversaw £2.8 billion of mortgage originations in 2019. He previously worked at Principality Building Society where he was business development manager and interim head of intermediary sales.
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Marylen EdwardsHead of Lending BTL
10.30am Panel – Buy-to-let inc. HMOs, MUFBs and Ltd Co Lending
Marylen is responsible for developing and implementing MT’s buy-to-let proposition and underwriting practices, with 28 years of experience. Marylen began her career as a mortgage and commercial manager with Lloyd Bank in 1994, before spending 10 years as a BTL and commercial broker. Since then, she has held several senior roles including positions at Metro Bank and Axis Bank.
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Liam LawlorSales Director
12.30 Rapid Fire – Bridging inc. Auction Finance
Liam has worked in property finance for the last decade with previous roles at HSBC, Metro Bank and more recently Octopus Property where he worked alongside Octane Founders Mark Posniak and Matt Smith.
Liam has worked in partnership with all of the top London property finance brokers, building excellent relationships by delivering against deadlines and promises.
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Owen BentleyHead of Sales
12.30 Rapid Fire – Bridging inc. Auction Finance
Owen Bentley has worked in the property finance industry for over 15 years gaining considerable experience on both the broking and lending sides of the business. He joined UTB in 2019 as a Business Development Manager and was later promoted to Key Account Manager and more recently Head of Sales for UTB’s Bridging division. Managing a team of BDMs supporting brokers across England, Scotland and Wales, he has played a key role in helping the Bank to deliver consistent growth in new bridging business despite the challenges of the global pandemic and economic uncertainty. In recent months he has successfully co-managed UTB’s Bridging division whilst the Bank sought a new Director of Bridging.
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Zahira FayyazSenior Business Development Manager
12.30 Rapid Fire – Bridging inc. Auction Finance
Zahira started her Banking career in 2010, working within Business & Commercial Banking, overseeing a portfolio worth £250M. Since 2016 she has worked within Alternative Finance, specialising in Bridging and BTL finance. Zahira brings a wealth of experience, combining her technical background and flexible approach to Lending, to support brokers.
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Richard WhitehouseManaging Director
1.30pm Panel – Development Finance
Richard has over 18 years’ experience in invoice finance, asset based lending, supply chain finance and trade finance.
His roles have included working at both independent and bank owned funders in the UK, Ireland and Germany, including Aldermore Bank, AIB Plc, and Royal Bank of Scotland Invoice Finance.
He has been integral in developing and delivering sales at a strategic level and has a track record in achieving performance objectives with a keen eye on returns. He has an excellent reputation in leadership roles within both sales and relationship management.
Richard became sales director at Sancus in June 2016.
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Shahil KotechaChief Executive Officer
1.30pm Panel – Development Finance
Shahil is an experienced business leader with a successful track record of delivering strategic change across a range of financial institutions.
Since 2015, Shahil has led the growth of Pivot – the institutionally backed lending platform – in his capacity as CEO and Principal. Pivot is a small but highly experienced team of lending specialists, who leverage technology to provide innovative short term lending solutions secured against commercial and residential assets. Pivot is particularly adept at providing residential development facilities between £2m - £10m. Shahil spends the majority of his time overseeing the day-to-day operation of the business and is a voting member of the Credit Committee.
Prior to joining Pivot, Shahil was a Managing Consultant within the Financial Services Practice at PA Consulting. He has advised a number of clients across FS and property, including Barclays Wealth, Financial Supervisory Authority (now the Prudential Regulatory Authority & Financial Conduct Authority), Friends Life Group, RSA and Skyline Properties.
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Marie GrundySales Director
2.30pm Rapid Fire – Second Charges
Marie joined West One in 2017 and is currently the Managing Director of West One’s residential mortgage and second charge divisions. Prior to joining West One she was Managing Director of specialist distributor V Loans, and has also held senior positions within the specialist lending market over the last 20 years.
Marie is a board member of the Society of Mortgage Professionals and is a regular commentator on the specialist lending market. -
Maeve WardCommercial Director
2.30pm Rapid Fire – Second Charges
Maeve Ward has been director of commercial operations at Central Trust and Mercantile Trust, Norfolk Capital Group’s lending brands, since January 2021.
She has over 20 years’ experience in specialist lending and previous roles include managing director of bridging lender, Focused Bridging, and managing director, residential mortgages at Shawbrook Bank.
Maeve passionately believes in helping potential customers who have been ignored by the high street and is an ambassador, not only for the lending brands she represents, but also for the specialist market as a whole.
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Luke NavinHead of Lending
2.30pm Rapid Fire – Second Charges
Luke heads up the lending team at Century, taking a highly hands on role in day-to-day business and personally managing relationships with some of our key clients. His diligent approach to overseeing all loans in the pipeline ensures that Century delivers the highest level of service. Luke is a graduate of Oxford University and prior to joining Century, worked with MCIFA Property Finance where he was involved with structuring more complex finance arrangements both in the UK and overseas.
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Chioma AmakuloHead of Underwriting
2.30pm Rapid Fire – Second Charges
Chioma has over ten years’ experience in property finance, including roles at Alternating Bridging Corporation and Mint Property Finance, where she was instrumental in completing case volumes of bridging, commercial and development finance transactions. Chioma’s expertise and experience in dealing with a diverse range of property finance transactions and managing key relationships with all stakeholders was further honed through roles at several international banks, and a number of banks in Africa.
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Marc CallaghanGroup High Net Worth Client Account Manager
12.30 Rapid Fire – Bridging inc. Auction Finance
As Group High Net Worth Client Account Manager, Marc leads a team dedicated to supporting high net worth clients across the Precise Mortgages, Kent Reliance for Intermediaries and InterBay lending brands.
His team is responsible for developing and maintaining relationships with our existing clients and their brokers, ensuring they receive a personalised, seamless service which helps provide solutions to their evolving borrowing needs.
Marc has worked in financial services in a number of different roles for more than 20 years. After beginning his career as an administrator and underwriter at Santander, he progressed through the ranks to become a BDM in London.
He joined Kent Reliance in 2014, working as a BDM before moving across to InterBay as National Sales Manager for five-and-a-half years. Following a stint with Shawbrook, he returned to OneSavings Bank in his current role in early 2022.
Marc believes that a collaborative approach that keeps the broker at the centre of the relationship, backed up by competitive products and specialist sector knowledge, gives them the best chance of retaining clients and securing repeat business.
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John O'DonovanPartner and Head of Banking and Finance
11.30 Panel – Commercial lending
John is a Banking & Finance Partner with over 15 years of experience across the financial services sector.
John advises on all aspects of banking and finance for a wide spectrum of lender and borrower clients. These include leading providers of senior and mezzanine debt, bridging lenders, property developers, portfolio landlords and high net worth individuals.
John has significant experience and expertise in high value property finance, restructuring and development finance transactions. This experience has included advising on bilateral agreements, revolving credit facilities, term facilities, letter of credit facilities, bank guarantees, debt restructurings and project financings. He has also advised on transactions secured against a variety of assets from land and wealth portfolios to single stock investments involving multiple jurisdictions.
For lender clients, John can also assist with preparing standard template loan documentation, product terms and conditions as well as other client-facing documentation. He regularly collaborates with other practice areas, particularly company commercial, real estate, development, and private client.
Prior to joining the firm, John spent 9 years in-house leading the Banking Legal team at Investec Bank plc. -
Tanya ElmazHead of Intermediary Sales
11.30 Panel – Commercial Lending
Tanya Elmaz is an experienced financial services professional with 20 years of extensive specialist lending and market knowledge. Tanya began her career as a business development manager covering Central and Greater London. Tanya is now Head of Intermediary Sales for Commercial Finance, responsible for leading and managing the commercial Intermediary sales channel. Tanya has the experience and knowledge, to add value to broker relationships directly through education. She also supports the sales channel in providing straightforward lending solutions to intermediary partners. Tanya is a bridging expert and takes pride in being to offer solutions in complex scenarios. In her spare time Tanya enjoys spending time with her family, reading and the occasional visit to the gym!
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Beth ForyszewskiBusiness Development Manager
10.30am Panel – Buy-to-let inc. HMOs, MUFBs and Ltd Co Lending
Beth joined the Landbay team in 2018, where she brings her in-depth knowledge and experience in the specialist buy-to-let market to the fore every day. In 2020 she won Best Relationship Manager of the year at the SFI awards.
Having worked at CHL Mortgages, Buy to Let Club and Fleet Mortgages, Beth knows what makes a great buy-to-let case and her experience as a packager enables her to guide intermediaries through the various stages of the mortgage application. Her understanding of the underwriting process further contributes to her ability to help brokers place their cases, with Landbay, with ease and confidence. -
Nathan GoodridgeNational Sales Manager
10.30am Panel – Buy-to-let inc. HMOs, MUFBs and Ltd Co Lending
At Foundation Home Loans, Nathan heads up the business development team in the South as well as manages the relationships with their key partners such as clubs, networks and packagers. Foundation Home Loans is an intermediary-only, specialist lender, who focuses on offering solutions for those looking to buy or refinance properties across both buy-to-let and residential spaces.
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Daniel StandingRegional Development Manager - London
11.30am Panel – Commercial Lending
Dan Standing is a National Relationship Manager for Shawbrook, having worked for them for the last 11 years. He has over 25 years experience working for various financial institutions from high street banks now a specialist lender in the property finance sector.
His passion is helping people to achieve/exceed their goals and specifically in his current role, assisting brokers with complex large loan deals to overcome hurdles and provide a solution that is mutually beneficial to the bank, brokers and clients.
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Jonathan PrinceSenior Commercial Manager
11.30am Panel – Commercial Lending
Jonathan is the Senior Commercial Manager at Allica Bank, and BDM for the East of England. He has been working in SME finance in the challenger bank space for the last 10 years in a variety of lending focussed roles, with 5 years’ experience as an underwriter. He joined Allica in 2019, initially as a Commercial Underwriter, before moving to a Business Development role at the end of 2019. Allica Bank was recently named Commercial Lender of the Year and Best Specialist Bank at the 2022 Bridging & Commercial Awards.
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Nick RussellSales Director
11.30am Panel – Commercial Lending
Nick joined TAB in October 2019. His role includes generating new business, building and maintaining new and existing relationships with borrowers, brokers and valuers. He also manages the sales team and ensures they hit their targets. He enjoys watching sports, particularly Spurs, who are his favourite football team, and College Football is his guilty pleasure.
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Emily HollandsHead of Specialist Finance
11:30 Panel - Commercial Lending
Emily Hollands is Head of Specialist Finance at OSB Group. She leads a team of specialist finance account managers, overseeing the buy to let, commercial and semi-commercial lending propositions across InterBay, as well as bridging with Precise Mortgages.
Her team work in partnership with our intermediaries, providing them with in-depth knowledge of our products and lending policy.
Emily’s career began when she joined the Chelsea Building Society in 2002, working in the branch network. She then moved to Northern Rock in 2006 to work as a business development manager in 2006, staying through the Virgin Money takeover, before leaving to join TSB in 2014 working in national accounts.
She joined OSB Group (originally OneSavings Bank) in 2016 as a national account manager, before transitioning into the role of Head of National Accounts, finally becoming Head of Specialist Finance in 2021.
Emily’s extensive experience and knowledge means she’s well placed to provide relevant and unique solutions for brokers. She understands the challenges they face, and her team are on hand to help, however challenging or complex a case may be.