GETTING TO KNOW ALBATROSS
Welcome to the Bridging & Commercial Magazine supplement, in association with Albatross Lending Group
CONTENTS 4
A word from our founders
6
A word from our new chair
8
Meet the team
10
What we offer
12
Case studies
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GETTING TO KNOW ALBATROSS
A long way in a short time Almost three years ago to the day, Jordan and I were celebrating the completion of Albatross’s first loan from his parents’ garage in Surrey, our office at the time. Today, we write this welcome letter from our new HQ overlooking Regent Street in London’s West End. While that’s not intended as a brag, we like to remind ourselves of how far we have come in a relatively short period of time.
The honest verdict is that 2023 has been a challenging year for the lending market. For Albatross, there have been many highs, as well as valuable lessons learned! Our 48-hour rescue bridge, a product designed to save deals that were falling down in the 11th hour, was crowned Product of the Year at this year’s B&C Awards. We have seen a 122% year-on-year loan book growth, a significant expansion of the team, as well as a back book that so far is redeeming as planned. Amid the rapid growth we’ve enjoyed over the past few years, it’s easy to get caught up working in the business rather than on it. Things such as brand, core values and our corporate message can easily be pushed to one side while we focus on getting deals over the line. Albatross has become industry renowned for its service levels, speed and delivery, and we’ve now worked hard to recreate our brand and message to support this positioning within our market. Looking ahead, our plans are more ambitious than ever. Our mission is to separate ourselves from the rest of the market via the way in which we are funded. We will share more details on our new funding structures throughout 2024 but, in the meantime, we proudly welcome Martin Gilbert—founder of Aberdeen Asset Management and chair of Revolut—on board as Albatross’s new chair, to assist us with our growth plans. Lewis Casserley and Jordan Fearnley Brown Founders and principals of Albatross Capital Lending Group
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A word from Martin Gilbert
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GETTING TO KNOW ALBATROSS
Heading in a new direction I am excited to support Lewis, Jordan and the Albatross team as they steer their ship in a new and improved direction of travel. They have a powerful funding infrastructure and continue to build a truly quality lineup of talent.
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GETTING TO KNOW ALBATROSS
Meet the rest of the team
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Matt Rogers Sales director
Nils Raber Sales executive
Industry titan Matt Rogers joined Albatross a year ago to head our growing sales team. Matt began his career in banking before playing an instrumental role in establishing a financial services arm for Arcadia Group, one of the most successful UK retailers at the time. Since this time, Matt has co-founded brokerage and packaging businesses, as well as helping grow a number of successful bridging lenders over the years. Matt brings his wealth of experience on both broker and lender sides as well as a vast network of contacts. When not at the office or in the gym, you can find Matt at one of London’s seafood restaurants or anywhere that sells Malbec.
Known for his renowned catchphrase #DealsWithNils, Nils joined Albatross after graduating with a BCs in Real Estate from Oxford Brookes University. The confident Swede has quickly built a strong personal brand within the industry and has the rare ability of brightening the mood whatever company he finds himself in. His hardworking attitude has seen him exceed every target set so far, he’s incredibly approachable and honest, and he works relentlessly to provide lightning-fast results for his brokers. When not out with intermediaries or being the office wind-up merchant, you’ll find Nils playing golf, padel tennis or football, cycling or at the physio nursing whatever sporting injury he’s incurred that week.
GETTING TO KNOW ALBATROSS
Maria Powell Sales intern
Sophie Ambrose Head of operations
Shaylee Jones Portfolio manager
Maria is the first person to join Albatross’s new sales internship initiative designed to welcome new and aspiring sales individuals. Working closely with both the directors and the sales team, Maria is developing a knowledge of the specialist finance industry as well as expanding our broker network through social media, email and good old-fashioned telesales. She’s off to a flying start and has instructed valuations on her first deal only three weeks since joining us. When not on the phone or on LinkedIn, Maria spends her time at the gym or socialising with friends.
Sophie joined Albatross two years ago, when it was still just Lewis and Jordan, as a junior administrator, following her graduation from the University of Sussex with a BSc in Psychology. Having worked closely alongside Lewis and Jordan from the outset, Sophie has a hands-on operational approach to all aspects of the business, case management, employment and cashflow to investor relations. Her progression within the company so far has been nothing short of astounding; having been promoted to head of operations earlier this year, she is now focusing on building a team around her to assist with the back office. When not in the office keeping everyone under control, Sophie can be found at bottomless brunches with friends and family, taking city breaks or trying to make use of her Odeon subscription.
Shaylee has recently joined Albatross following a variety of case manager and underwriting roles within both the bridging and BTL markets. Shaylee focuses largely on packaging loans from enquiry to loan advance, as well as maintaining the live loan book, managing customers who service interest monthly and ensuring redemptions are progressing as planned and within term. Shaylee is the first of several intended hires made recently by Albatross as we focus on the quality of our back office procedures ahead of our 2024 growth plans. Shaylee always brings a smile to the office and, when not at work, you’ll find her making iced cocktails at home with her new Ninja CREAMi frozen dessert maker.
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GETTING TO KNOW ALBATROSS
Product highlights Rates fixed from
0.95 | 10
% pm
GETTING TO KNOW ALBATROSS
48-hour
rescue bridge MiniWings
small, competitive lending from
desktop valuations accepted
£50,000 - £250,000 complex
offshore borrowing
third-party charges
structures
second charge lending
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GETTING TO KNOW ALBATROSS
Case studies
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GETTING TO KNOW ALBATROSS
Case study
1
48-HOUR RESCUE BRIDGING LOAN Loan amount: £1.1m Estimated property value: £2.4m Valuation method: AVM/site visit Rate: 1.05% pm Term: three months
Lewis was driv ing out to Surrey on a Wednesday afternoon in the summer to play an evening golf match when the phone rang from an introducer with a client requiring £1.1m by Friday morning to pay a creditor. The customer was offering up a derelict residential asset on a private estate in Surrey that they’d recently bought with cash, which they planned to demolish and then redevelop. Lewis swung by the asset en route to golf and met the client there, issuing terms and instructing legals on scene. Through some exceptional legal work and many commercial decisions and conditions agreed to meet the deadline, the borrower drew down on funds within the timeframe. Six weeks later, we were redeemed via a larger Investec facility.
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GETTING TO KNOW ALBATROSS
Case study
2
REFURBISHMENT LOAN Loan amount: £550,000 Property value: £550,000 day one, £1.4m GDV Valuation method: as-is valuation on day one only Rate: 0.85% pcm (increased to 0.99% pcm by term end and continued extensions) Loan term: 18 months, ended up being over three years
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This is a classic example of Albatross working with a client and making the right commercial decisions to achieve a positive outcome for all involved. The customer approached Albatross before the Covid-19 pandemic for assistance with the purchase of a run-down bungalow in Solihull, Birmingham. We provided a 75% LTV against the purchase price on day one; the borrower had intended to self fund the development works. We monitored the project from time to time, visiting the borrower when in the area and requesting photo updates. The borrower was hit with material delays and labour shortages during the difficult lockdown periods, as well as experiencing his own cashflows issues from delays elsewhere in the portfolio. Given the progress we saw being made, and the borrower’s plans and proposed GDV, we extended the loan for a further 12 months beyond the original 18-month term, and provided the customer with a further £150,000 to continue progress without the financial stress. Due to additional delays and cashflow problems, we extended the facility by another six months and provided a further funding tranche to get the asset to its completed state. The borrower has created a masterpiece and successfully refinanced onto a BTL facility to repay our facility.
GETTING TO KNOW ALBATROSS
Case study
3
DEVELOPMENT LOAN Loan amount: £1.35m Property value: £2.5m GDV Rate: 0.95% pcm Loan term: 12 months
Albatross was approached to supply an equity release facility against a part-built mews house in west London. Works to the property were in full swing, and the customer was self funding the project to completion. Our loan was used to support cashflow for other ongoing projects within the portfolio. Typically, lenders will require quantity surveyors to monitor works as they progress but, given the quality of the customer in question, we were able to rely on our own site visits, pictures and project updates from the customer. We provided a day-one advance of £1.1m against a £1.7m valuation, as well as keeping £246,250 in retention to support further works and address cashflow constraints across the portfolio during the term of our loan. Prac tical completion has now been achieved, and we estimate a GDV figure in the region of £2.5m.
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