Recognise hires Sohanta as regional director with bridging focus

Sohanta has built up specialist knowledge of the West Midlands through 15 years in banking and finance, the bank said.

He served as a director at Acorn to Oaks, a specialist financial services provider most recently. 

Previously, Sohanta was commercial banking manager, west region, at Metro Bank, where he managed relationships with 170 commercial customers. He has also worked for Lloyds TSB and Barclays.

Sohanta will develop and manage relationships with customers in the West Midlands, initially focusing on commercial lending, particularly bridging, with expansion into new products to follow.

Recognise began bridging and commercial lending in December 2020 after gaining a restricted banking licence.

The bank set out ambitions to build a loan book of £250m by March 2020 earlier this year.

“We’ll look at quirkier ones and things with wrinkles that need structuring,” chief executive Jason Oakley told Specialist Lending Solutions in February.

Key region

The lender said relationship management would be central to its SME banking offer, with the West Midlands an important region for this.

“This is an exciting role at Recognise Bank, which is placing relationships at the heart of SME banking again. The bank has ambitious growth plans, particularly in the West Midlands,” said Sohanta (pictured).

“I look forward to providing a relationship-led proposition to SMEs and entrepreneurs, which is sadly missing in the sector.

Oakely added: “Arun brings a breadth of experience, particularly in the West Midlands. We look forward to working with him and using his knowledge to establish Recognise as a leading bank for SMEs in the region.”