Author: dev

Diane joined us at the beginning of April, as an operational specialist bringing over 20 years of experience in leadership and senior roles.

Prior to joining MS Lending Group, Diane worked at Together where she was responsible for managing the Commercial back book. Her role involved responsibility of the end-to-end post funding customer journey, from onboarding new customers, meeting service requirements, to supporting customers who experienced financial difficulties.

In her new role here at MS Lending Group, Diane is tasked with improving efficiencies, enhancing customer experiences, and leading our team’s development and growth.

Michael Stratton, our CEO & Founder, said: “I am delighted to welcome Diane as Head of Operations and very much looking forward to working with her and seeing the positive impact she will bring to the business. She has a tremendous wealth of experience from her previous roles, particularly in credit risk management, as well as her experience with customers and ability to deliver exceptional results. I know she will bolster every area of the business as we seek further growth.”

Diane added: “I am very excited to join MSLG at this stage in its growth journey. I am looking forward to using my extensive operational expertise to support the business as it matures and we build a solid platform on which to grow, with the appropriate governance framework in place to deliver sustainable returns, deliver on our customers’ expectations and make it a great place to work for all colleagues.”

The introduction of a Head of Operations comes after our recent announcements regarding a further funding line with Pollen Street Capital, and a surpass of £200m funded in 3 years.

We are very excited to have Diane onboard during such a key time for the business and look forward to working with her over the coming months.

We are excited to announce that we have hit a milestone of over £200m in loans funded since our inception in 2021.

The announcement follows our further funding line extension from Pollen Street Capital. Established in 2021 in Manchester during the pandemic with just one employee, we have grown the business to a team of 19 and counting, focusing on providing innovative products that solve real problems. 

Our CEO & Founder, Michael Stratton stated, “Our pipeline continues to be strong, as our customers are continuing to come back to us with repeat business. We have seen the business grow month on month, year by year, and this news is testament to the service our team are delivering. Over 80% of our deals are completed without the need for a full valuation which is why I believe we’re becoming the go-to lender for many customers and brokers.”

Our aim by the end of 2025 is to have lent over £500m, and become the top choice for bridging finance in the UK while continuing to collaborate with borrowers and brokers to ensure positive outcomes for all.

Michael added, “MS Lending Group was conceived during the COVID-19 pandemic when a lot of lending across the property industry was put on hold. At the time physical in person valuations were unable to take place, so we launched the business with a No Valuation product utilising valuation software to deliver for clients. Since then we have relentlessly sought industry feedback, adapting our offering to best serve our customers. We found a lot of lenders would not lend under £100k and therefore launched no minimum loan size across all our products. That’s what MS Lending Group is all about, focusing and owning our own lending strategy and insuring being flexible in our lending as that’s what our customers need”.

If you’d like to know more about MS Lending Group and our products, drop us a message at enquiries@mslendinggroup.co.uk or speak to our team on 0161 823 7993.

19th March 24 – MS Lending Group announces a further £20m funding line extension with Pollen Street Capital. The lender, which secured an initial funding facility with Pollen Street Capital in August 2022, has committed to an additional £20m of funding with plans to significantly increase the facility in the future.

Michael Stratton, CEO, said, “The additional injection in funds by our longstanding partner, Pollen Street, will help us continue to keep up with demand for our offering and remain fast and agile in the bridging market. As business levels continue to increase it is great we can rely on a longstanding partner to continue our trajectory supporting professional investors, SME developers and landlords across the UK”.

Since MS Lending Group entered the market in 2021, the finance provider has lent over £200m, with aims to lend £500m by the end of 2025.  

“We have loved working with Pollen Street Capital since our initial facility agreement. From inception we set out to find a strategic partner that’s more than just a provider of capital. The relationship has gone from strength to strength, and we are proud to continue this partnership as we set our sights on further growth”. Michael Stratton continued.

Earlier this year, MS Lending Group launched its industry first Day Rate product, and continues to offer no minimum loan size, and no valuation up to £500k across residential, commercial, and semi-commercial properties.

James Bevans, Investment Director at Pollen Street added, “Pollen Street is pleased to support MS Lending Group with an increase in funding, building on our relationship with the team. Michael Stratton and Robert Goodall bring over 40 years’ experience in the industry to MS Lending Group. The MS team offers products across the UK providing much needed capital to SMEs given the decline of traditional bank finance, increasing the amount of affordable homes, and helping to improve the environmental efficiency of existing housing.”

“Our real estate lending strategy is built on selective partnerships, and this increased facility with MS Lending Group continues to fit well with our ambition to support experienced and successful businesses that are funding mass market residential-led schemes across the UK and Europe.”

The lender has also added Matt Blake, formerly of Pepper Money and Together as a non-executive director of the business. Matt’s role is to stay abreast of opportunities from a securitisation perspective and ensure MS Lending Group maintains a flexible and competitive funding structure.

Working with the brokerage arm of The Harrogate Group – which provides finance solutions for the real estate sector and originated and advised on the deal – the client was seeking to raise capital across 14 unencumbered properties in order to purchase further properties to add to their portfolio. The clients had committed to purchasing the assets however with completion looming were uncertain their initial lender could complete on time.

Completing on the 31st August, MS Lending Group was able to use two existing valuation reports which enabled the client to move quickly and forward with their onward purchases. This saved the client both time, and thousands of pounds in new valuation fees.

Faisal Arif, chief executive officer of The Harrogate Group, said: “Our brief was to source funding quickly so our client, who has a substantial existing portfolio, could acquire a £14m residential and commercial property portfolio in Birmingham and the West Midlands. We were able to deliver this inside a month, thanks to our collaboration with MS Lending Group, who acted swiftly and professionally.”

This deal rounds off a great 2023 so far for the MS Lending Group, lending over £53m with sights on a further £30m before the end of the year.

Michael Stratton, CEO, and founder of MS Lending Group, said, ” For a loan of such substantial size, not many lenders would have been able to accept a re type of two previous valuation reports. However, with our knowledge, understanding and experience we are able as a lender to say yes to the quirkier deals and find a way to get comfortable. Our Relationship Manager, Amer, showed huge insatiability, understanding what the client and broker needed to achieve. At MS Lending Group we pride ourselves on always listening to our clients’ needs, and not having fixed parameters which create a barrier to lending.”

Working with the brokerage arm of The Harrogate Group – which provides finance solutions for the real estate sector and originated and advised on the deal – the client was seeking to raise capital across 14 unencumbered properties in order to purchase further properties to add to their portfolio. The clients had committed to purchasing the assets however with completion looming were uncertain their initial lender could complete on time.

Completing on the 31st August, MS Lending Group was able to use two existing valuation reports which enabled the client to move quickly and forward with their onward purchases. This saved the client both time, and thousands of pounds in new valuation fees.

Faisal Arif, chief executive officer of The Harrogate Group, said: “Our brief was to source funding quickly so our client, who has a substantial existing portfolio, could acquire a £14m residential and commercial property portfolio in Birmingham and the West Midlands. We were able to deliver this inside a month, thanks to our collaboration with MS Lending Group, who acted swiftly and professionally.”

This deal rounds off a great 2023 so far for the MS Lending Group, lending over £53m with sights on a further £30m before the end of the year.

Michael Stratton, CEO, and founder of MS Lending Group, said, ” For a loan of such substantial size, not many lenders would have been able to accept a re type of two previous valuation reports. However, with our knowledge, understanding and experience we are able as a lender to say yes to the quirkier deals and find a way to get comfortable. Our Relationship Manager, Amer, showed huge insatiability, understanding what the client and broker needed to achieve. At MS Lending Group we pride ourselves on always listening to our clients’ needs, and not having fixed parameters which create a barrier to lending.”

MS Lending Group has hired seven additional members to its growing team. The lender has hired additional members of staff in all areas of the business from the processing and underwriting team. As well as bolstered its finance department.

The hires are due to mass growth at the lender in 2022 and will support their ambitious growth plans for 2023. “We are known for our service in the industry and our ability to complete as quickly as the clients need. As we become busier we are conscious our service simply cannot waiver.

Therefore we have invested in all areas of the business to continue to deliver an easy process for all of our clients”. Michael Stratton CEO & founder mentioned. The lender plans to lend over £200 million by 2024. “I am delighted whilst some bridging lenders have pulled various products due to the economic climate we have chosen to use this period to seek further growth. The appetite from our clients is there and we don’t want to let any of them down.

Our new hires are fantastic and epitomise our whole ethos at MS Lending Group, Alice, Joe, Mike, Adam, Aimee, Gabrielle and Tobias are all welcome additions to our team.“

North West based lender, MS Lending Group has surpassed over £100m in lending in its first two years of trading, lending large scale bridging loans is not anything we’re not used to.

This represents a huge 268% increase in the lender’s loan book compared to 2021. Lending £22m in 2021, and increasing to £81m in 2022.

The lender has also expanded its office space in the final quarter of 2022 in order to continue to expand its headcount and levels of business.

Following the lending amounts, Michael Stratton, founder and CEO remarked: “I’m really pleased to announce we have hit over £100m in our first two years. Our clients are capitalising on our no valuation up to £500k, and desktop valuation up to £2million products.

However I think our relationship- led lending; our speed and service, is ultimately what has brought so much business and repeat business. I am thrilled at the amount of business we have been able to complete for our clients, and I am so grateful for everyone’s continued support and our staff.

We more than exceeded our 2022 lending targets, and whilst in 2023 we’re conscious of the challenging economic outlook, 2023 is set to take MS Lending Group to even higher levels. We were aware with interest rate changes in Q4 that the amount of business may slow down. Instead, December was a record breaking month for the company, lending over £17.6m.

The news caps off a great year for MS Lending Group which saw the lender secure two major funding lines.

MS Lending Group has funded a record breaking £7.605m deal in Adlington, Cheshire.

Completing only two days before Christmas, the deal is the largest ever transaction for the company.

The borrower had an existing facility with another lender who had a charge over two adjacent sites: a completed 45,000 sq ft industrial unit and the other with planning for 75,000 sq ft unit but the clients existing lender was unable to commit further funds.

The site, located just 15 miles from MS Lending Group’s office, enabled the team to visit and agree the terms the same day. A full valuation was carried out and the deal was completed in less than 10 days.

Rob Goodall, Managing Director, ‘it was a pleasure to complete this deal, not only because I have personally known the customer for over 20 years, but after being let down his existing lender, we helped enable him to move forward and fully develop a prime site in Cheshire.

The client appreciated the fact that we did what we said we were going to do and in the requested short timescales too.’ MS Lending Group who pride themselves on speed and flexibility in the bridging market enabled the funding to complete quickly, the existing lender to be redeemed, whilst also allowing the borrower to progress with the build in 2023.

The news comes off the back of a very successful year for the company completing over £80m in 2022 alone. Michael Stratton, CEO, added, “although a large transaction this case exemplifies everything that we’re about and want to be known for at MS Lending Group. Speed, flexibility and guaranteeing our customers that when we say we will get something done we do just that!”