Category: News

We are excited to announce the appointment of Jamie Pritchard as Sales Director. With a wealth of experience in the specialist lending market, Jamie’s addition to our team marks a significant step in our growth strategy.

Jamie brings over 25 years’ experience in the specialist lending industry, having held senior roles at a number of companies. Throughout his career, he has been instrumental in managing large sales teams, driving performance, developing strategic partnerships, and enhancing broker relationships.

Jamie Pritchard commented: “I’m thrilled to be joining MS Lending Group as such an exciting time in its journey. The company has built a strong standout reputation – fast, pragmatic, and always assessing cases on their own merits. The team culture is second to none, with a real energy and commitment to getting deals done. What Michael and the team have achieved since inception is hugely impressive, and I’m excited to be part of the next stage of growth.

In his new role here at MS Lending Group, Jamie will focus on expanding our intermediary network, strengthening our relationships with brokers, and delivering tailored short-term finance solutions to meet the evolving needs of property professionals. His appointment underscores our commitment to growth and service excellence in the specialist finance sector.

Michael Stratton, our CEO and Founder added: “We’re delighted to welcome Jamie to the team. His deep understanding of the market and passion for delivering exceptional service will be invaluable as we aim to grow on our success of 2024. We saw a significant increase in the loan book and expect his expertise to further enhance our proposition and continue our exciting trajectory. Importantly, his reputation in the industry as possibly being the most liked man in bridging (after me) is what stood out. I just know he will be a huge asset to the team and to our clients.”

Jamie added: “I’m looking forward to making an impact and driving the business further forward.”

We are excited to be building on our growth trajectory, providing market-leading bridging finance solutions with a commitment to speed, flexibility, and service.

MS Lending Group, established in 2021, has reported record breaking results for Q4 and the full year of 2024.

We wrote £66.1m in loans in Q4, taking our total to £160m lent in 2024, doubling our 2023 performance.

Our loan book mirrors our growth trajectory, increasing by 91% in 2024, and lending a total of £342m since 2021.

Launching with no minimum loan size back in 2021, we have continued to focus on volume in 2024, writing 535 loans, an 89% increase to the previous year.

Michael Stratton, our CEO and Founder, said: “2024 was a transformative year for MS Lending Group.

Our ability to double the total volume of pounds lent, and nearly double our loan book, speaks volumes about the hard work of our team, and the trust our clients place in us.

As a business we are ambitious, but our focus is, and always will be, on sustainable growth.

This has been achieved by sticking to our core lending principles, concentrating on volume, retaining a granular loan book, and a consistent average loan size.

This 89% increase in units written showcases MS Lending Group’s ability to meet growing demand while maintaining exceptional service standards.

The company’s performance reflects our service offering and the people in which we invest so heavily, our service is the standout that is making the business market leading in how we operate.

We remain committed to innovation, investment, and excellence as we embark on our most ambitious plans yet for 2025.”

MS Lending Group has boosted its bridging finance offering and expanded its reach in the market by launching a 85% light-refurb product. 

Our new product offers 85% LTV from day one of the bridge, with no minimum loan size and no full valuation necessary up to £500k. With the aim of accessing maximum funds faster in order to complete refurbishment plans faster. 

Michael Stratton, our CEO, spoke of the new offering “We know this market well, as a business we are regularly funding property acquisitions, often where clients are planning to carry out works to the asset to then go on to sell, or maintain and move on to a longer term facility. Adding this new product allows us to tap into some of the market that are looking for works towards the refurbishment but want to work with a lender that is agile, flexible, and can operate at the speed we are accustomed to.

The business has become synonymous with property purchases, having many relationships with auction houses and agents alike, and we felt now was a good time to further our offering and increase market share.”  

“We have spent the last few months, modelling it, speaking to industry partners and the initial feedback has been fantastic, and we are expecting a large uptake in its use.”

Get in touch with our team today!

MS Lending Group completes an £11.68m bridging loan over London based portfolio.

The portfolio which consisted of 12 properties is owned by a High Net Worth entrepreneur and returning client of MS Lending Group.

The client has a number of large overseas hotels and the capital raise was going towards the purchase of a new hotel on The Palm in Dubai. 

The assets were valued at £38,000,000 therefore a modest 30% loan to value. It is a record largest loan funded for the company.

Michael Stratton, our CEO, commented “This transaction demonstrates our ability to manage and maintain relationships. We successfully completed a deal for the client close to three years ago, and their experience with our brand, made us front runners to work with the borrower again.

We have a much more granular funding model, with our average loan size typically £250k, however we remain agile in our offering and no matter our size still look at every loan on a case by case basis. If the right deals come across our desk, regardless of size, we want to be able to offer our unique service and offering to our partners”.

We have funded 1000 loans since the business was set up in 2021 last month. 

The loan for a Cheshire based entrepreneur who has developed 85,000 square foot of industrial space came to us to refinance their development facility, to allow themselves time to let the space ahead of refinancing the facility onto a long term commercial facility. 

The client who used us on an adjacent site once that was also at practical completion, came back to us based on the existing relationship and understanding of the whole site. 

Michael Stratton, our CEO & Founder commented; “It was great to be able to work on this project for our returning client. Working with clients who have demonstrated proof of concept previously makes our life a lot easier and allows us to push the boat out further than we otherwise would.”

We have completed over 500 loans in 2024, whilst maintaining an average loan size of £270k. Michael added, “as a lender we’re agile, and we’re flexible, this loan particularly demonstrates our ability to close transactions at both ends of the spectrum when we see the relevant opportunity”.

MS Lending Group has funded a milestone 1000 cases in its first four years of trading.

Michael Stratton, our CEO and founder, said, “We are extremely proud to have reached this milestone, and to see how the company has evolved over this period. We entered the market with a clear identity of what we wanted to achieve and the impact we wanted to have on our clients and brokers, and the number of loans we have written in this period demonstrates the buy in we have had from all our partners. As a business, we have always focused on the number of loans written, rather than the amount of pounds lent. We feel this is a better barometer of how active we are as a lender, and a testament of our offering.”

Michael added, “This is still just the beginning for MSLG, and we have ambitious plans over the coming years ahead, and as we grow, we want to continue to be the market leaders in our service offering and our innovation in tailoring new products to suit customers needs.”

Since our inception at the beginning of 2021 we have increased from Michael being a one man band to 22 members of staff, with plans for more hires before the end of the year.  We also announced a further funding line from Pollen Street Capital in June this year.

On the team, Michael expressed, “We have built a team of incredibly talented individuals who have all bought in to the same goal of delivering certainty to our clients. I’m extremely proud of what we’ve achieved, their love for the brand and what the future holds”. 

MS Lending Group announces a further £40m funding line extension with Pollen Street Capital.

The further funding extension comes after taking out an additional £20m of funding 3 months ago. Our initial funding facility with Pollen Street Capital was secured in August 2022, and now totals £90m.  

The extension in funds highlights our positive start to 2024, with originations double the levels of 2023. We have experienced a record start to 2024, with May being our most successful month to date in terms of money lent, and the number of loans written.

Michael Stratton, our CEO & Founder, said, “The further funds enables MSLG to fully focus on its continued growth journey for the second half of 2024, and most importantly provide our brokers and partners with a quality and service that is unmatched. We are also proud to continue our relationship with Pollen Street Capital. To work with a funder who can take you from £0 to just shy of £100m and beyond is exactly what we needed, the relationship allows both companies to match each others business ambitions and I’m thrilled our relationship continues to flourish”.

Since we entered the market in 2021, we have lent over £240m, £55m from January to June 2024, and we aim to lend £500m by the end of 2025.  

James Bevans, Investment Director at Pollen Street added, “We are delighted to continue to support MS Lending Group. MS Lending Group has built a fantastic track record, supported by deep expert knowledge of their clients and the bridging market. We value working with Michael and his team who are diligent, customer orientated and keen to grow their business. Our real estate credit strategy aims to support fast growing experienced lenders helping to finance SME developers across the UK primarily in relation to residential-led schemes”.

At the start of May, we completed a £3m bridging loan helping a client refinance their current facility and release additional capital to acquire multiple properties. 

The borrower, used MS Lending Group to raise funds on an existing portfolio of properties he owns to repay a first charge, and raise further funds to facilitate the purchases of two new properties. 

The client’s exit strategy is to refinance onto a long term agreement. 

Michael Stratton, our CEO & Founder stated, “We are delighted to have assisted the client in completing this deal and growing his property portfolio. We were under a strict timeline to complete which was made easier by having great stakeholders involved and aligned throughout. As always it’s great to work again with WOTS Group, they trust we will always deliver even when time is of the essence. Well done team! 

The deal, brokered by Word on the Street, was instructed and completed within 8 working days using an existing full valuation. 

Michael Street, Word on the Street, “There’s a host of bridging lenders available to brokers, with products and rates not too dissimilar. The only thing that really sets lenders apart is certainty and service. 8 properties, £3m gross loan, and 8 working days to complete. MS Lending Group and Sam Bryce, in particular, were superb. Myself, and all of the team, cannot wait to work with them again, and again.”

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.