Award
The British Specialist Lending Awards 2025
The British Specialist Lending Awards recognise the extraordinary accomplishments of the Specialist Lending sector’s most worthy individuals who raise the bar and challenge others to follow.
We recognise individual excellence, not companies.
It is the people who raise standards, drive change, innovate, collaborate, and facilitate positive change in the Specialist market.
Our Award winners are mortgage advisers, lender employees, business leaders and innovators, all who have demonstrated an improvement to their own businesses, but also the wider market.
For table sales or sponsorship opportunities please contact andrew.morris@ae3media.co.uk.
Hilton Bankside, London
Broker: Rising Star – Distributor sponsored by Landbay
Mussa Hussain, Coreco Specialist Finance
An undeniable rising star. Mussa always thinks about the whole deal and then the post-deal relationship, and has successfully built trust by getting results.
Lender: Rising Star – Product Provider
Cameron Levitt, Avamore Capital
Cameron provided ample evidence of intelligent technical knowledge. Our passionate winner clearly demonstrated impressive results and a growth mentality.
Broker: Administrator sponsored by Pepper Money
Kiran Chawla, Dynamo
Kiran is a very passionate and focused individual who always goes that extra mile to deliver the best customer, lender and adviser outcome.
Lender: Underwriter
Stephen Mettler, Hampshire Trust Bank
Stephen’s personality, wealth of knowledge, empathy, and passion about the role makes him the perfect ambassador for the underwriting profession.
Broker: Complex Buy-to-let sponsored by Solutions by Foundation
Tom Headey, The Buy to Let Broker
This nominee’s technical knowledge, impressive conversion rates and strength of lender and client relationships just gave Tom the edge in this highly competitive category.
Business leader: Complex Buy-to-let Lender sponsored by Blacks Solicitors
John Goodall, Landbay
John is a very capable leader who has inspired his team to deliver a compelling proposition in a challenging market.
Business leader: Development & Innovation Advocate
Nicola Firth, Knowledge Bank
Nicola is a true problem-solver, and her enthusiasm and passion shined through.
Lender: Business Development
Hayley Gittins, Aldermore
Delivering what a business development manager (BDM) should do was not Hayley’s benchmark. Always going the extra mile with business results and also delivering wider initiatives was how she wanted to be measured.
Broker: Commercial Finance
Charlotte Stanford, Sirius Finance
Smart, driven, enthusiastic, ambitious, passionate; the list of adjectives to describe Charlotte goes on and on. Her achievements over the past 12 months were unparalleled in this category. A truly deserving winner.
Business Leader: Commercial Finance Lender
Marc Callaghan, OSB Group
Marc challenges his peers as a lender business leader, leading key projects within his business to support the wider market and focusing on the best outcomes for brokers and customers.
Lender: Head of National Accounts
Rob Barnard, Pepper Money
Rob’s educative approach, specific examples of outstanding leadership and ability to act strategically make him a worthy winner.
Broker: Second Charge sponsored by One Mortgage System
Sarah Stroud, Truffle Specialist Finance
Sarah has a key grasp of Consumer Duty, cares deeply about customers and what’s right for them, and understands the importance of educating the wider market on the value of second charges as an important lending solution.
Business Leader: Second Charge Lender
Marie Grundy, West One Loans
Marie is a passionate leader who wears her heart on her sleeve, and is determined and uncompromising in delivering excellence for her business, supporting the wellbeing of her teams and backing up the growth of the sector with her hands-on approach to supporting their distribution partners.
Business Leader: Surveyor
David Ellison, Pinnacle Surveyors
His passion was clear. The judges appreciated and valued David’s honesty and transparency and liked his focus on culture and the diversity and inclusivity journey.
Broker: Bridging & Short-term Finance
Narinder Gill, Coreco Specialist Finance
In a very close category, Narinder was able to articulate the best solutions for their clients, and has a deep knowledge of the wider market and a good grasp of the importance of industry education.
Business Leader: Bridging Lender
Scott Marshall, Roma Finance
This engaging and inspirational leader’s passion for the sector, influence on the wider market and focus on innovative funding solutions and key partnerships helped Scott to stand out in this category.
Business Leader: Conveyancer
Carol Nuttall, Adlington Law
Carol impressed the judges with her hands-on approach to running her business. This and her desire to make a difference shone through.
Broker: Complex Income
Sarah Grace, Sarah Grace Mortgages
Sarah works with a variety of lenders, and clearly evidenced business growth over the previous 12 months. Her experience and passion shone through, including sharing knowledge with her peers.
Business Leader: Complex Income Lender
Charles Morley, Metro Bank
A true leader in every sense. Charles genuinely prioritises his people and sets a culture that allows everyone to thrive and deliver impressive results.
Lender: Head of Sales
Joanne Hollins, Metro Bank
Joanne was a ‘knockout’ because of their pride in their team and clear passion for seeing an idea and watching it grow.
Broker: Adverse Credit
Stephanie Seddon, Right Choice Mortgages
Stephanie demonstrated great passion for the role she delivers, is a solution-driven adviser, obsessed with delivering great customer outcomes in an empathetic manner, and supports her wider team to make them the best they can be.
Business Leader: Adverse Credit Lender
Paul Adams, Pepper Money
Paul shone through in a tough year, showing compassion and true leadership, flexibility and adaptability, ownership of individual business decisions and strength of character.
Business Leader: Specialist Distribution sponsored by Together
Lucy Waters, Aria Finance
This impressive individual leads from the front with their exceptionally high standards. Lucy shows great empathy and is not afraid of making tough decisions
Broker
Rising Star – Distributor
The category is open to employees of businesses that distribute products in the complex buy to let, bridging, complex credit, commercial finance and second charge markets.
This could include employees of:
Adviser firms.
Packagers.
Mortgage clubs.
Specialist mortgage desks.
Distributors of other mortgage related products.
Nominees should have up to three years’ total experience in the intermediated mortgage market as of January 2024 (not up to 3 years in a new role, having had previous experience in the intermediated mortgage market-whether in the specialist or mainstream markets).
The award is aimed at those individuals who have made exceptional progress in their respective businesses in the last 12 months. They will have demonstrated first class results, attitude and ambition and have ample evidence that they have consistently overachieved and have taken on further responsibility within the business.
All candidates in the following broker categories must demonstrate that a minimum of 50% of their role involves advising in front of clients
Complex Buy-to-Let
The award will go to the adviser who has delivered a consistent level of quality business to lenders over the last 12 months. They will have strong relationships with lenders, a good understanding of the complex buy-to-let market requirements such as Ltd Co, HMO, portfolio landlords and have demonstrated they are working in the best interest of their clients.
Commercial Finance
This includes the following finance options:
Commercial Owner Occupied or Investment mortgages
Semi-Commercial
Development finance
Asset Finance
The award will go to the adviser who has delivered a consistent level of quality business to lenders over the last 12 months. They will have strong relationships with lenders, a good understanding of the residential development and real estate finance markets and have demonstrated they are working in the best interest of their clients.
Second Charge
This award is aimed at those brokers who focus on second charge advice. The winner will have excellent relationships with second charge lenders, a deep understanding of product niches and a proven track record in delivering the most appropriate advice to their customers.
Bridging and Short-Term Finance
The award will go to the adviser who has delivered a consistent level of quality business to lenders over the last 12 months. They will have strong relationships with lenders, a good understanding of the bridging finance market and have demonstrated they are working in the best interest of their clients.
Complex Income
The award will go to the adviser who has delivered a consistent level of quality business to lenders over the last 12 months. They will have strong relationships with lenders, a good understanding of product criteria and solutions to help customers who have complex incomes.
This includes:
Self-employed
Contractors
Business Owners
Gig Workers
Professional investors
Bridging and Short-Term Finance
The award will go to the adviser who has delivered a consistent level of quality business to lenders over the last 12 months. They will have strong relationships with lenders, a good understanding of the bridging finance market and have demonstrated they are working in the best interest of their clients.
Adverse Credit
The award will go to the adviser who has delivered a consistent level of quality business to lenders over the last 12 months. They will have strong relationships with lenders, a good understanding of product criteria and solutions to help customers who have suffered a previous credit problem and have demonstrated they are working in the best interest of their clients.
This includes:
Adverse Credit
Defaults
Arrears
Missed payments
CCJs
Debt management plans
Bankruptcy proceedings
Administrator
This category is open to individuals in an administrator role at an adviser or packager firm whose main job function is to process specialist mortgage applications for their firm. This category is not applicable to individuals who are involved in the advice process. The successful candidate will show consistently high-quality case submission, getting it right first time to a broad spectrum of lenders. They will demonstrate a high level of product and criteria knowledge and act with confidence and authority in their dealings with lenders, their adviser colleagues and customers. They will consistently exceed all regulatory and fraud prevention obligations.
Lender
Rising Star – Product Provider
The category is open to employees of mortgage lenders, general insurance and protection providers, legal services providers, and surveyors who operate in the specialist lending arena.
Nominees should have up to three years’ total experience in the intermediated mortgage market as of January 2023 (not up to 3 years in a new role, having had previous experience in the intermediated mortgage market-whether in the specialist or mainstream markets).
The award is aimed at those individuals who have made exceptional progress in their respective businesses in the last 12 months. They will have demonstrated first class results, attitude and ambition and have ample evidence that they have consistently overachieved and have taken on further responsibility within the business.
Underwriter
This award category is open to anyone in this discipline at director, officer or manager level.
The nominee will have delivered strong initiatives in the last year to improve the quality of business, overall performance and/or controls within their provider which demonstrates that they are exceptional in their position. They would be able to demonstrate a clear visible impact that their initiatives have had on the business.
Business Development
The award will be given to the individual responsible for business development in a telephony or face to face capacity. This individual will always go the extra mile for their brokers. Someone who is always available, knows their products inside out and offers support and suggestions to the distribution channels they serve. They will take ownership of the relationships, ensuring that they consistently achieve positive results for the intermediary and their business.
Head of Sales
This award category is open to anyone who manages a sales force that successfully delivers core and cross-sales targets (this will include people with the following job titles – Commercial Director, Head of Sales or Sales Director). As an inspiring leader, the nominee will have exceptional leadership and communication skills to inspire a sales team to perform at their highest level, exceeding lending targets, developing deeper relationships with distribution partners and delivering support and value to create a smoother transaction process which ultimately benefits the customer.
Head of National Accounts
The nominee will design and implement the national account strategy with key distribution partners (this will include people with the following job titles – Head of National Accounts, Head of Key Accounts or Head of Networks). They will show an extensive understanding of different intermediary business models and show that they can deliver value to each of these relationships. They should have the ability to act strategically, demonstrate outstanding leadership skills and ensure that internal company functions give the highest level of customer service to the national account partners.
Business Leader
Development & Innovation Advocate
This includes, but is not limited to,
Technology
Product design,
Training and development,
Customer contact strategies,
Business efficiency.
Nominees will have demonstrated that they are bringing new thinking and development to any aspect of the process within the specialist mortgage market. The successful person will have made a proven positive impact on their own business in the last 12 months, while delivering change that could potentially have positive implications for the wider market.
Specialist Distribution
This award category will be applicable to those individuals that have demonstrated an exceptional commitment to the specialist arena. They will be able to demonstrate their depth of lender and broker relations and an entrepreneurial spirit which has seen their business adapt to the challenges of the changing specialist landscape.
Surveyor
Nominees will embody the ethos of their firm; delivering a consistently high-quality offering, accurate reports and quick & efficient service.
Conveyancer
Nominees will have demonstrated an innovative approach to specific sector challenges, while pushing for a speedy and faultless service to clients.
Bridging Lender
The successful nominee will be someone who has successfully managed their business in the last 12 months, who understands the needs of both brokers and lenders and delivers a proposition that adds value to both parties.
Commercial Finance Lender
For leaders of a business offering Commercial Owner Occupied or Investment mortgages, Semi-Commercial finance, Development finance or Asset Finance. The award is for a standout individual who provides leadership and authority.
They will have overseen growth in their business in the last 12 months and shown a willingness to work with all parties to sustain and evolve the marketplace.
Complex Buy-to-Let Lender
Lenders must provide specialist solutions to complex customer requirements i.e. Ltd Co, HMO and portfolio landlords. The award is for a standout individual who provides leadership and authority. They will have overseen growth in their business in the last 12 months and shown a willingness to work with all parties to sustain and evolve the marketplace.
Second Charge Lender
The award is for a standout individual who provides leadership and authority. They will have overseen growth in their business in the last 12 months and shown a willingness to work with all parties to sustain and evolve the marketplace.
Bridging Lender
The successful nominee will be someone who has successfully managed their business in the last 12 months, who understands the needs of both brokers and lenders and delivers a proposition that adds value to both parties.
Complex Income Lender
The successful nominee will be someone who has shown exceptional leadership and will have successfully managed their business in the last 12 months. They will understand the needs of brokers, and critically the consumer, and will deliver a proposition that adds value to both parties. They would have captured the demand of the sector and raised the profile of the solutions available to the adviser market to help customers who have complex incomes.
This includes:
Self-employed
Contractors
Business Owners
Gig Workers
Professional investors
Adverse Credit Lender
The successful nominee will be someone who has shown exceptional leadership and will have successfully managed their business in the last 12 months. They will understand the needs of brokers, and critically the consumer, and will deliver a proposition that adds value to both parties. They would have captured the demand of the sector and raised the profile of the solutions available to the adviser market. This category focuses on lending to customers in the following circumstances:
Adverse Credit
Defaults
Arrears
Missed payments
CCJs
Debt management plans
Bankruptcy proceedings
Outstanding contribution
The British Specialist Lending Award winners are nominated by people from across the spectrum of the UK mortgage industry. The winners were selected using a transparent, robust, three-tier process designed to make selection as fair and independent as possible.
THE PROCESS
The first stage of the process is an invitation to the industry to nominate the individuals deemed worthy of recognition for their achievements over the last 12 months (please note that all nominations received from members of the public, including customers, will not be counted).
Once the first phase of the process is closed a shortlist is drawn up in each category based on the number and spread of nominations for a particular individual. A weighting system is applied to the overall number of nominations cast to ensure greater emphasis is placed on the relevant nominations cast from outside each nominee’s own business. Please note that there is a cap of
5 nominations received from within each nominee’s business.
Those nominees that make the shortlist of three in each category are then asked to submit a supporting testimonial based on the following questions:
QUESTION ONE
What key achievements have you delivered in the last 12 months?
This can include evidence of contribution to positive customer outcomes. This may include, but not be restricted to, new initiatives they have delivered in the last 12 months which have improved service levels, internal processes, or customer outcomes. It also includes any positive contributions they have made to the prosperity of the wider market beyond their own business performance.
QUESTION TWO
What evidence do you have to indicate successful business performance over the last 12 months?
This could be measured in growth in transaction volumes and/or profit versus the previous year. It could also, depending on the relevance of the category, include further performance indicators
such as an increase in positive feedback from either clients or lenders that demonstrates both the right customer outcomes and improved business partner relations, or an increase in business
won by recommendation, or increasing net promoter scores or reducing customer complaints. It could also evidence the delivery of any change and innovation that has had a positive effect on the
business beyond just financial results.
QUESTION THREE
Why should you win the award?
Nominees are invited to tell us in their own words about their achievements and why they think they should win.
A respected industry panel is used for the next stage of the process.
The judges are handpicked for their experience and knowledge of the market and are a representative sample of providers, distributors and supporting services who can give a reasoned and balanced view on each of the candidates on the shortlists.
Those on the shortlist in each category are invited to attend a 15-minute interview. The judges will use their market knowledge, the details from the submitted testimonials and the strength of the interview to determine the winners.
Matthew Arena – Brilliant Solutions
Cat Armstrong – Dynamo for Intermediaries
Jonathan Ayris – Connells Group
Rob Barnard – Pepper Money
Lucy Barrett – Aria
Jane Benjamin – Connect Mortgages
Jason Berry – Crystal Specialist Finance
Frances Cassidy – Kensington Mortgages
Helen Cawthra – Vida Homeloans
Stephanie Charman – Sesame Bankhall Group
Shane Chawatama – Knowledge Bank
Michael Clapper – Black Book Finance
Simon Cockerill – OSB Group
David Coleman – Positive Lending
Elise Coole – Keystone Property Finance
Jeff Davidson – Fluent for Advisers
Marcus Dussard – KSEYE
Alastair Ewing – The Lending Channel
Sarah Gaffney – Loan Partnership
Narinder Gill – Coreco
Nicola Goldie – Aldermore
Marie Grundy – West One Loans
Doug Hall – 3MC
Tony Hall – Saffron Building Society
Faizan Haq – Finance & Leasing Association
Matt Hardman – Buy to Let broker
Nikki Haworth – Ingard
Grant Hendry – Foundation Home Loans
Emily Hollands – OSB Group
Dale Jannels – impact specialist finance
Vic Jannels – ASTL
Vikki Jefferies – Primis Mortgage Network
Gareth Lewis – MT Finance
Gareth Lewis – MTF
William Lloyd-Hayward – The Brightstar Group
Scott Marshall – Roma Finance
Sharon Marshall – Mortgage Brain
Kim McGinley – Vibe Specialist finance
Natalie McNamara – Loans Warehouse
Caroline Mirakian – United Trust Bank
Charles Morley – Metro Bank
Roger Morris – Tandem Bank
Michelle Neville – Clever Mortgages
Guy Nyirenda – Altura Mortgage Finance
Pete O’Connor – Target Group
Adam Oldfield – Phoebus Software
Sara Palmer – The Mortgage Lender
Nick Parker – Together
Jamie Pritchard – Glenhawk
Karen Rodrigues – Market Financial Solutions
Louisa Sedgwick – Paragon Bank
Jane Simpson – Legal & General Mortgage Club
Melanie Spencer – One Mortgage System
Rob Stanton – Landbay
Liz Syms – Connect for Intermediaries
Chloe Timperley – AMI
Alex Upton – HTB
Lisa Walklin-Knight – John Charcol
Anita White – The Right Mortgage Network
Blacks Solicitors is a 30-partner law firm with over 200 employees. It provides a wide range of legal services to commercial and private clients across the UK.
Blacks is one of the leading providers of legal services to the residential property market. It has a large customer-focused team with over 70 members operating nationally, that specialises in residential buy-to-let and bridging finance.
Blacks’ residential property team possesses extensive experience acting for buy-to-let and bridging lenders. The team acts for specialist lenders on both a dual and separate representation basis and has a separate team dealing with lender-only instructions.
It also works with mortgage brokers who benefit from its industry focus and understanding.
The law firm also has a strong client base of residential landlords, ranging from clients who own a single investment property to professional landlords who operate large portfolios.
Blacks’ specialist knowledge enables it to deal with buy-to-let, multi-unit freehold buildings, Houses in Multiple Occupation, title splitting, lease creation, lease extensions, portfolio financing and new build properties.
Clever Lending are a Master Broker and specialist packager of Bridging and Development Finance, Commercial Mortgages and Specialist Buy to Let.
Their team of experts are passionate about providing a hands-on personal service and can find solutions with ‘out of the box’ thinking.
They work closely with lenders to deliver positive outcomes and the right solutions for your customers, even if their circumstances are out of the ordinary.
Clever Lending provide the perfect combination of technology, experience and customer service to ensure your regulated or not regulated enquiries are submitted quickly and easily, whilst you receive personal support and advice along the way from our team of qualified specialists.
Crystal Specialist Finance is an award-winning specialist finance distributor, providing commercial finance, bridging loans, second charge loans, development finance and specialist residential and buy-to-let mortgages.
Its goal is to provide simple solutions to even the most complex financial problems. Each and every enquiry is reviewed on its own merits and Crystal works with you to find the very best product available for your clients.
Its blend of speed, service and flexibility allows Crystal to offer brokers and their clients the best deal for their circumstances.
As experts in delivering bespoke broker solutions, InterBay specialises in commercial, semi-commercial, buy-to-let mortgages and bridging.
It looks to say ‘yes’ to complex cases, using a wealth of knowledge and an experienced manual underwriting team to find the right solutions for you.
InterBay’s underwriters work together with national specialist finance account managers, as well as real estate and completions teams. We build long-lasting relationships with brokers and partner with them on high-value, challenging cases.
InterBay, along with Precise and Kent Reliance for Intermediaries, is a specialist lending brand of OSB GROUP PLC.
Landbay is an award-winning mortgage platform, created for its customers, designing better ways to buy-to-let.
It focuses on the customer, bringing together the best people and partners, leveraging its data, technology and market expertise.
Choose Landbay and you’ll find experts at the end of the line, smart technology designed for you, and fast decisions you can count on.
Its team, community and the wider world matter to Landbay. It’s carbon neutral. And its industry awards and customer reviews speak for themselves.
Landbay is committed to becoming your go-to mortgage funding partner.
Market Financial Solutions can provide loans as large as £50m in as little as three days for property investors purchasing in England or Wales. Every enquiry receives a response within 4-hours, and their team of BDMs are always happy to arrange meetings across the UK.
MFS work alongside brokers, taking on all the heavy lifting, and underwrite loans from day one to find the best solution for the borrower. With no tick-box criteria, they look for reasons to lend, so you can move forward with your client’s case, confidently.
Their expertise, teamwork, and around-the-clock service help us deliver a bespoke service with a common-sense approach, no matter the complexity.
One Mortgage System (OMS) is more than just a sourcing system. With features that allow you to source, check and submit mortgage applications, saving brokers time is OMS’ key goal. Other features include an audit trail, pre-population, DIPs, full two-way lender integration with a number of lenders and more.
The system allows document uploads, sourcing, KFIs, evidence of research, email and SMS updates, pre-underwriting, AVMs, credit searches and so much more to help save brokers hours of administration time.
The system has been developed by working alongside mortgage advisers and observing how they operate. This has resulted in a multi-award-winning system that has amassed over 4,000 users who in the last 12 months have submitted over 42,000 applications.
Pepper Money is a broad specialist lender. They exist to help people succeed. Championing individuality. Embracing difference. Acting responsibly. And looking for opportunities to say yes, rather than reasons to say no.
They understand that brokers have a wide range of needs, because their customers do, too. These clients may want to take the next step in their homeowning journey – or move on from a difficult financial situation. Brokers want to give them the best service, in the most efficient and profitable ways.
Pepper’s aim is to help both parties fulfil their ambitions. They do this by… Offering simple, inclusive products. Broad criteria. Competitive pricing and a positive lending attitude – so brokers are able to help more of their customers.
Taking a human approach to decision-making. So fairer – often more generous – lending decisions are reached, because we consider people, not credit scores.
Being easy to work with, through direct access to a decision maker.
And providing specialist expertise that can be relied on in a rapidly evolving marketplace.
When you keep an open mind and listen to people, everyone succeeds. That’s Pepper Money.
Solutions by Foundation is a range of broad and specialist criteria for property or loan types beyond that typically catered for in the buy-to-let market. It includes mortgages for HMOs of unlimited size, part-commercial property, MUBs, and mortgages for Expats.
Square 1 Media is a specialist PR and marketing agency with more than 100 years of collective property and mortgage market experience and a track record for delivering meaningful coverage and commercial results.
As the most influential agency in its industry, it uses its market knowledge and extensive network of contacts to make a tangible difference to its clients. Working with Square 1 enables you to spend your valuable time managing your business, rather than your agency.
It can support with PR, marketing consultancy, content marketing, partner marketing, research, branding and positioning, media training and copywriting.
Virtus Search has worked closely for many years with mortgage intermediary lenders, representing their opportunities and headhunting talent to progress their business. Moreover, Pete Gwilliam mentors individuals and offers tools and support to enable career growth.
Virtus invests in the mortgage community, contributing to various workstreams that can make the sector more inclusive and equitable.