Recognise Bank Completes £2m Commercial Loan in 23 Days from Credit Approval

10 March 2022

Teamwork with Bank and broker to meet client’s tight timescales.

Recognise Bank has completed a £2 million loan for a city centre office premises in just 23 days from credit being agreed to the funds being drawn down.

Tight timescales were set by the client, so Recognise Bank’s Relationship Manager Paul Bagan, along with colleague, Lending Manager, Mathew Baker, worked closely with advisor Mark Jerman, of Watts Commercial Finance, and a team of lawyers and surveyors to complete the complex deal in time.

The deal was for a commercial property loan of just over £2 million, with an LTV of 65%, for an office in the heart of Manchester, which was acquired by a professional property investor.

The speed of the transaction is testament to Recognise Bank’s digitally enabled, relationship-banking model, whereby expert teams work directly with brokers and clients to progress the application, with cutting-edge technology driving the back-end processes to complete the loan quickly and efficiently.

Mark Jerman, Senior Commercial Manager, Watts Commercial Finance, said: “Paul and Matthew were an absolute pleasure to deal with. It was a very streamlined and joined-up approach between them both: communication was timely, accurate and relevant, and we completed very quickly.

“The valuation turnaround was amazing with Paul engaging the valuer early and in readiness. It was an absolute pleasure, so on to the next deals with Recognise.”

Paul Bagan, Relationship Manager, Recognise Bank, said: “This was a relatively complex loan and of course the timescales were extremely tight, so the key for us was good communication, both with the broker and the client, but also with all the other parties, such as the lawyers and surveyors.

“The way the Recognise Deal Team is set up, it means Mathew Baker and I work closely together from the very start of the application process, sharing information quickly and updating each other on progress. It means we can handle any challenges quickly, and importantly, we can give our broker partners and their clients the quick decisions and funding they need.”

Recognise Bank was created to serve SMEs that are being ignored by mainstream banks, offering a range of unregulated business loans, including Commercial Mortgages, Bridging Loans, Professional Buy-to-Let Loans, Working Capital Loans and Professional Practice Loans.

Recognise launched its first range of personal savings accounts in September 2021 and will launch a range of small business savings products later this year. The Bank has a network of relationship managers and supporting teams, including regional underwriters, in hubs in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds.