UTB

United Trust Bank appoints new bridging director

Experienced hire will take up his new role in November

Sundeep Patel

United Trust Bank (UTB) has announced the appointment of Sundeep Patel (pictured), to the role of director of bridging, with a brief to significantly expand the bank’s short-term lending business.

Patel has worked in the financial services industry for over 20 years. Most recently, he was director of sales and member of the commercial executive committee at specialist lender Together. He was also in charge of the lender’s intermediary channel. Before joining Together in 2018, he was national sales

United Trust Bank “has delivered exceptional performance despite ... economic uncertainty”

manager at Precise Mortgages.

UTB said its bridging division has significantly increased its new business volumes in the last 12 months, following the introduction of new services such as FastTrack and the implementation of technology to empower brokers and accelerate bridging applications.

Earlier this year, the bank refreshed its non-regulated bridging proposition with enhanced criteria and created a team of underwriters and case managers specifically tasked with accelerating non-regulated bridging proposals. UTB claimed the move was widely welcomed by brokers, leading to a significant uplift in new business enquiries.

Patel, who will take up his new role in November 2022, said he is looking forward to supporting UTB’s strategic ambitions and being “part of its strong, values-driven culture.”

“United Trust Bank has established a great reputation as a competitive and reliable bridging lender with a highly skilled and knowledgeable team,” he added. “The bank has delivered exceptional performance despite the challenges of the pandemic and economic uncertainty.”

Mark Stokes, chief commercial officer at United Trust Bank, said he was excited to welcome Patel to the bank.

“Sundeep has a huge amount of experience in the intermediary channel, but, more importantly, he possesses the skills, drive, and enthusiasm to build on our recent success and deliver the substantial growth we’re looking to achieve over the next few years,” Stokes remarked. “I know he is keen to meet his new team and get on with the job of making UTB the foremost provider of short-term finance.

“I would also like to thank Owen Bentley and Nikki Brett for maintaining bridging’s excellent performance while we carried out our search for a new director of bridging. They will continue to run the division until Sundeep joins us in November, and the three of them will create a formidable team, delivering yet more improvements to products and service.”