October 2019
By Dawn Trustam, Joint Managing Director at The Bridging Group
When asked to provide content for the FIBA newsletter on ‘Uniting an Industry’, we felt it was very important as one of the more recent FIBA partners to touch upon the subject of working together and how this will impact the growth and betterment of the bridging industry.
We may be a young bridging lender, in fact one of the newest bridging lenders out there, but what an experience it has been so far. I can truthfully say that if it wasn’t for the relationships we have with our funding lines, brokers, surveyors and solicitors we would definitely not be looking at such a strong growth in our first year. There is a key saying - “united we stand, divided we fall”. Working together to provide that specific service will only provide success; fighting or a weak link will cause division.
I see unity in a lot of our industry, for example in respect of what FIBA provide – they are looking to provide an industry standard, a way for us all to work correctly for the correct outcome, which is key in an unregulated market. We also see unity in how most lenders work together. This is an industry that is fighting against “old fashion bridging”, it has come a long way and will continue to have success.
For us at the current stage in our growth, unity has come from all the specific parts of a deal coming together, and as a lender, we can only “get the job done” with the support of people within the whole transaction. We are very lucky that in a small space of time we have built strong and bonded relationships with our peers that we intend to keep.
The process starts with the broker giving us the chance to provide terms on a new case. Why choose the Bridging Group? Well this may be best to speak to a broker, but I would hope they would say that they know that a case is in safe hands (and I am sure all lenders want the same), they have used us before and had success on a case, recommendation from someone else (best form of advertising in my eyes), or they have spoken to one of the decision makers and sparked a relationship allowing us to try and prove our worth. If we provide good terms, that are suitable to the clients’ relationships then we will be lucky to get the case to completion.
The next step is the relationships with our surveyors to provide us with a detailed, accurate survey in a suitable time for the deal to work. How do we pick a surveyor? Because we have used them in the past and all has gone well, or we have heard that they do a good job? (The 1st is the most important one for us). It’s a united front between the lender and the surveyor to get the report done accurately, professionally and in a decent time frame for bridging purposes. We have a reliable list of valuers, and we trust every single one to provide exactly what we need.
Solicitors are next. Our solicitors now have to push this over the line, in some very tight deadlines and again, it is because we trust them that we instruct them to do what is needed without cutting corners or causing delays. They are solution finders. They are the essential piece to make sure we are providing the correct lending that is secure for our funds.
I looked up the word Unity and alternative words included – solidarity, indivisibility, wholeness, all-togetherness. I think these words tie up the process and the work that is put in by all parties for a bridging loan to work effectively. We are very lucky that we as a company have this with our teams that we work with.