Cambridge & Counties Bank bolsters its real estate finance team
Specialist lender Cambridge & Counties Bank has made three new appointments to its real estate finance team, as the bank looks to further capitalise on market opportunities.
Lewis Ashford is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management and has joined the Bank as senior business development manager covering the South West region. He formerly worked for The Co-operative Bank, where he spent the last 15 years working in a number of roles, including business development and relationship management specialising in trading and commercial businesses.
Emma Harris joins as relationship manager focused on the Yorkshire market. She holds a wealth of market knowledge in both real estate lending and asset finance, having previously worked for Synergi Finance. Her varied career has also included 15 years in London leading a specialist sales team.
Victoria Pearce has been appointed as business development manager for the Midlands. She holds nearly 23 years’ experience in the industry, having started her career at Santander before moving to Aldermore. During her career, she has specialised in all aspects of residential, commercial and specialist lending.
The three appointments underscore the bank’s continued commitment to professional property investors and businesses and follow a number of other Real Estate Finance team appointments in 2023 and early 2024 – including Scott Barber, who joined in January in the new role of regional director, North.
In late May, Cambridge & Counties Bank announced it had registered its highest ever level of gross new lending in FY2023 at £328m, up 6% year-on-year. Overall, total customer loan balances increased 5% to £1.106bn while customer deposits rose to £1.155bn, also up 5%.
Jayne Follows, head of real estate finance at Cambridge & Counties Bank, said: “Real estate finance remains at the core of the bank’s business model, and these three new appointments show how deeply committed the bank remains to the market. We have continued to help our clients seize opportunities, often through complex and nuanced solutions, and firmly believe our dedicated relationship-based approach will continue to see the bank attract further clients.”