Blend said Walker’s appointment would strengthen the lender’s relationship-based ethos.
Before joining Blend, Walker was head of lending within the development finance team at Hampshire Trust Bank (HTB), where he worked for nearly eight years. Prior to this, he held roles at Barclays Wealth Management and Heritable Bank.
Walker has experience in development finance and will work with Blend’s managing director of lending, David Alcock, to deliver its strategic objectives.
Earlier this year, Blend secured a bridging funding line worth more than £50m to support its property developer clientele.
Alcock said: “Riding the wave of our success in 2024 whilst navigating challenging market conditions, we believe this is the perfect time to bolster our property lending offering by welcoming Graeme to the team.
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“Having worked with Graeme before, I value the depth and breadth of his knowledge and how his approach to working with developers will further enhance Blend’s position as a lender focusing on the significant benefit of relationship lending from the start to the end of a project.”
Alcock added: “Graeme has a wealth of experience in the sector and understands the business and our clients; he will be an integral part of our success as we continue our journey of growth.”
Walker added: “I am very pleased to be joining Blend at such an exciting time. Blend’s development finance lending team has ambitious growth plans and I’m looking forward to helping the business achieve its goals.
“David has built a fantastic team over the past few years and I’m looking forward to working with him again and the wider team to continue to deliver highly tailored and fit-for-purpose funding solutions for our SME housebuilder customers and intermediaries.”