The specialist bank supports property professionals UK-wide, with Jonathan Scott, who is based in Bristol, appointed as Regional Lending Manager (South West), providing additional on-the-ground support across the region.
It follows three key appointments in the North of England, with a regional office planned in Leeds in the first half of this year.
Robert Grigg, Managing Director of Property Finance at Hampshire Trust Bank, said:
Jonathan is a welcome addition to our experienced team. We believe it is vital for SME housebuilders and property professionals to work with a bank that understands the markets and local areas in which they operate.
The bank’s business strategy reflects its annual SME Growth Watch research, conducted in partnership with the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR). The new study identifies SMEs in the top 10 UK cities are forecast to contribute £241bn* to the economy by 2025. Firms in Leeds and Greater Manchester are set to boost their contribution the most, with 26% growth expected in both cities in the 2016 – 2025 period. Bristol follows closely behind, predicted to increase its SME contribution by almost a quarter (23%).
Robert said:
The South West is a hive of residential and commercial building activity and a real area of opportunity for our business.
“We have recently supported a number of projects across the region including residential developments across Cornwall in St Ives, Fowey and Hove, and a major mixed-use project in Bristol, with plenty in the pipeline for the year ahead. This key appointment will help us to further improve our specialist service to SME housebuilders and property professionals across the South West.”
Prior to joining Hampshire Trust Bank, Jonathan worked as a property finance specialist at Funding Circle, with previous positions at Barclays.
Talking about why he decided to join Hampshire Trust Bank, Jonathan said:
I wanted to be a part of a bank that is committed to building long term relationships with SME housebuilders, who are key to boosting housing supply and confronting the UK’s broken housing market.
“Having a local presence to enhance these relationships is so important and I’m excited to continue the momentum already achieved in supporting property professionals throughout the South West.”
Read more information on the Property Finance team.
About SME Growth Watch
The Centre for Economics and Business Research Ltd (CEBR) was commissioned by Hampshire Trust Bank to examine the role that SMEs are playing across the UKs largest cities, analysing the number of businesses in each of the cities alongside the turnover, employment and level of lending to the businesses.
Contributions to the UK economy have been defined using the measure of ‘Gross Value Added (GVA)’. This is the measure of the value of goods and services produced in an area, industry or sector of an economy, in economics. In national accounts GVA is output minus intermediate consumption; it is a balancing item of the national accounts’ production account. SMEs are defined as businesses that have less than 250 employees.
* £241,475,091,800