Dragonfly founder to launch rival bridging firm Octane Capital

The business is the result of a joint venture with Pamplona Capital Management. It will also offer medium-term buy-to-let products and development finance.

Samuels (pictured) will take on the role of chief executive officer and has recruited previous colleagues to join him in the new venture.

Mark Posniac who was managing director at Octopus Property resigned in November last year and will become the managing director at Octane Capital.

Mark Smith, who was director of risk and recoveries at Octopus Property, also resigned in November and will fulfill the same role at Octane Capital.

Tom Clark, previously head of bridging at Wellesley and senior development manager at Shawbrook Bank, also joins Octane Capital as sales director.

Robert Graham will become head of finance and is another that has come to the new lender from Octopus Property.

Samuels said: “It’s fantastic to be back in the industry and working again with some of the most respected names in specialist property finance. In Pamplona we have an exceptionally strong and experienced funding partner that will position us well from the outset and enable us to lend at will. Our focus will be on complex, non-standard loans that are outside the comfort zone of most other lenders but which we believe play to our strengths. We are certainly not here to make up the numbers.”

Nitin Bhandari, partner, Pamplona Capital Management, added: “We are very pleased to be partnering with Jonathan and the Octane Capital team, whose experience and ability in this market are second to none. I have no doubt that Octane Capital will make rapid inroads into the specialist lending sector and it will have our full support and funding to do exactly that.”

Dragonfly Property Finance was bought by the Octopus Group in 2013 and rebranded Octopus Property in October last year.