Recognise Bank has expanded its sales team by appointing four new lending managers. Luke Beirne has joined the firm as senior lending manager, while Richard Winston, Ryan Kelly and Tom Ravenscroft have been appointed as lending managers. All four will work directly with brokers to support new business enquiries, structure complex deals and guide cases through to completion. Beirne brings nearly two decades of experience to the role, having worked at high street and challenger banks including Lloyds Banking Group and Aldermore. Kelly joins from Finance 4 Business, while Winston previously served as a relationship manager at Signature Property Finance. Ravenscroft joins after working as a broker, covering all areas of property finance, particularly residential and buy-to-let.

Ultimate Finance has reduced rates on its bridging finance range to reflect its appetite to back more bridging transactions. As a result, standard purchase and development exit bridge start from 0.79% per month. Ultimate Finance’s light refurbishment bridge now starts from 0.89% per month, while its medium refurbishment bridge is available from 0.94% per month. The lender delivers decisions in principle in 24 hours and fully credit backed offers in 72.

Cohort Capital has appointed Alex Alexandrou as its new head of sales – residential lending. In the role, he will spearhead sales for the firm’s ResiOne product for transactions between £1m and over £10m. He will also focus on expanding Cohort’s sales infrastructure, deepen intermediary relationships and generate new deal flow across its product suite. Alexandrou brings more than 13 years of property finance and financial services experience to the role. He spent nine years at Octopus Real Estate, where he most recently served as head of residential sales.

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