Member Article

Property specialist Ben Humphreys joins Bathgate Business Finance

West-Kirby based finance specialist, Bathgate Business Finance, has continued to build on its expansion plans with a strategic new appointment.

The company has welcomed property finance specialist Ben Humphreys as Business Development Manager (BDM). Ben brings more than 15 years’ experience to the team, garnered from roles at companies including Wirral Chamber of Commerce, St James’s Place Wealth Management, Ingard Financial and Skipton Building Society.

He joins Bathgate Business Finance from Wirral Chamber of Commerce, where he was Director of Membership and Growth, driving the recruitment of new members and directly managing relationships with the chamber’s strategic partners and its professional business members.

The strategic appointment of a property specialist positions Bathgate Business Finance for further expansion into the sector in 2020. Specialising in commercial mortgages for business owners and property investors, bridging loans for refurbishment and change of use and finance for new build projects, Ben’s experience will allow Bathgate Business Finance to provide an even more innovative range of funding solutions to property businesses across the North West.

Ben said: “Having a BDM dedicated to the property sector presents a fantastic opportunity to generate new ideas and respond quickly and effectively to changes in the market. I’m looking forward to using my expertise and depth of understanding of the sector to structure finance in such a way that delivers the best possible outcome for both future and existing clients. I also aim to bring new ideas on raising capital for enquiries into the business and use my extensive network of contacts to grow Bathgate’s already thriving customer base.”

Ben, who officially started in his new role on Wednesday 1 April, joins the team at a time of great uncertainty for the property sector and across the region, due to the Coronavirus outbreak.

Speaking of the current climate, Ben said: “Much of the impact of the global pandemic on the property sector is still to be seen, namely rental voids, the construction sector scaling back and struggles with supply chain. However, property offers great security for lenders and will be a huge resource for individuals and businesses to make sure they emerge from these difficult times in a positive place.

“Enquiries about using property assets to release cash are already coming in and we are also encouraging clients to review finances, whether for a single commercial mortgage or portfolio of properties. Lenders are still looking to lend, so now is a time to renegotiate terms, save some interest or even raise capital for future investments.”

Bathgate Business Finance MD, Gordon Andrews, added: “Ben’s property sector expertise and extensive network of contacts will be absolutely pivotal to our growth over the next 12 months.

“Given the challenging economic time that he is joining us, Ben has hit the ground running with a positive attitude and some excellent new ideas, which will benefit both our current customers and help us to extend support to new clients at a time when it is very much needed.

“His approach is perfectly aligned with our company mission to help businesses start up, survive and grow and we’re excited to welcome him into the Bathgate family.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Nikki Girvan .