Octane hires BDM from Avamore

Previously, Woodhouse was a senior BDM at Avamore Capital. Prior to Avamore, she was in various roles at Clydesdale Bank for 11 years, ranging from credit analyst and private client specialist to BDM. Her career began at HSBC.

Octane launched in May 2017, and has expanded quickly since – jumping from an initial team of three to 16.

The lender also said that more senior hires will be announced soon as it continues its growth strategy.

The latest hire follows the appointment of Josh Knight as BDM earlier this February.

The bridging lender prices to risk rather than loan to value (LTV), which allows for more manual product constructions. Octane also made its productless lending model available to all short-term loan applications in January, having focussed on non-standard loans for its first nine months.

Woodhouse commented: “I network a lot and speak to new people in the industry each day and whenever Octane cropped up in conversation everything said about them was always positive.

“Coupled with the fact they are offering a unique pricing model and are already lending in significant volumes, my interest was piqued and so here we are.”

Mark Posniak, managing director of Octane Capital, added: “Francesca is a fantastic addition to our rapidly growing business development team and I have total confidence in her ability to hit the ground running.

“She is well-known in the industry, highly respected and, with her background in credit analysis, immediately got her head around the way we price for risk.

“Now that we have branched out into mainstream bridging, we expect a lot more interest from brokers and with her private client experience Francesca is the ideal person to help us accommodate that demand.”