Octane Capital adds ex-Octopus Finance BDM head Greenspan

Greenspan (pictured) has previous industry experience with Octopus Investments, where he was head of new business development and head of innovation.

He spent the last 18 months as COO of car finance business Upfront Cars.

Octane said his role with the bridging lender would be to support the business development and sales team in the field, “ensuring a seamless transaction experience for brokers and clients alike”.

Greenspan started his career as a futures trader in the city for seven years, but also completed a stint as a scuba diving instructor.

Octane Capital launched without a product sheet, instead opting to structure loans on a highly bespoke basis and price according to risk.

Managing director Mark Posniak said: “Oli has a highly successful track record in sales and a forensic knowledge of financial services, picked up during his time on the trading floor. He instantly got what we’re trying to achieve at Octane and immediately wanted in. His focus will be to further streamline the way we work with brokers and their clients on even the most complex deals.”

Greenspan added: “As a lender without any products, Octane Capital is doing something unique and I wanted to be a part of it.

“I have known Jon, Mark and the team for a number of years now and the buzz around what they’re doing proved too hard to resist. I have worked in multiple sales environments over the years and hope to be able to throw a lot of that experience into the mix.”

£7.3m deal

Earlier this month Octane completed a £7.3m bridging deal secured against 11 residential properties in North London, comprising 65 self-contained flats.

Octane said the £12.6m portfolio, which was initially financed pre-crash “when underwriting was less robust” had numerous long-term planning issues.

These ranged from an unauthorized loft conversion in an otherwise consented building to fully unauthorized building reconfigurations.

“As a result, the borrower, a client of Sirius Property Finance, was unable to refinance through a now more risk-averse high street.

“The 15-month, fully retained bridging loan will provide the borrower, aged 76, with the time and flexibility to secure all necessary consents and authorizations and refinance the portfolio in full as part of his estate planning,” it added.