United Trust Bank appoints three property development senior staff

The specialist lender has expanded its property development sales team to 24 directors and managers after its loan book exceeded £1bn for the first time at the start of 2022. UTB has also formed a number of strategic partnerships with government agencies, including Homes England.

The bank is now focusing on localized expansion, hiring regionally to provide a range of development finance and developer exit solutions, as well as investing in cutting bureaucracy through fintech, and gaining more partnerships.

Neil Birse

Neil Birse has been appointed as a director in the property development team based in Bristol to support housebuilders and developers across the South West.

Birse has worked in banking for 30 years, the last 17 of which he has specialised in providing development finance to housebuilders and developers. He joined UTB from Assetz Capital but has also worked with Bank of Ireland, Bristol & West and RBS.

Tim Manley

Tim Manley has 15 years of corporate and real estate banking experience and joined UTB from Bank of London & Middle East (BLME).

Manley has also worked with lenders including ABC International Bank and Barclays.

As a manager in the property development team at UTB, he will be working alongside Hardeep Thandi to support housebuilders across Yorkshire, Humberside and the North-East.

Ross McCarthy

Ross McCarthy has been appointed manager. He has worked for UTB in the case management team for the last two years, and prior to that with specialist lenders including AIB and Arbuthnot Latham.

He will be working with Luke Benton Drury supporting housebuilders and developers in London, the South and South East of England.

Adam Bovingdon (pictured), head of property development at United Trust Bank commented: “We’re continuing to attract experienced real estate finance professionals. Neil and Tim are excellent additions to the team and they are already out in their regions talking to housebuilders and brokers. Ross has had two good years with the Bank in our case management team. His new role will see him working with Luke and developing new relationships across London and the South East. We look forward to seeing his career progress with the Bank.

“We are looking to sustain 2021’s momentum and help housebuilders overcome the challenges of running their businesses in a high inflation environment. Our loan commitments now support the delivery of more than 6000 new homes across England and Wales and we have the capability and appetite to increase that further, as well as assisting the resurgence of the SME housebuilding sector regionally.”