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December 13, 2019

Christie & Co announces completion of the sale of Oak Tree Lodge located in Clevedon, North Somerset

This established and reputable care home represented an outstanding opportunity for an experienced operator in the care sector. The business traded with a good mix of self-funded and local authority funded clients and has an excellent reputation locally. The property has 34 client bedrooms arranged over three floors, set in an imposing Victorian detached house enjoying an elevated position with outstanding views.

Owned by our clients for over 15 years and run as a family business, they took the difficult decision to sell so that they could enjoy their retirement. The family successfully built up a profitable operation, running this care home with an enviable reputation for delivering excellent quality care, highly regarded in the local area. The owners Richard and Sue Pike commented: “We would like to thank all our staff, residents, families and friends for their support over the years. We wish Deian the very best at Oaktree Lodge”

Oak Tree Lodge Care Home has been acquired by Manor Community. Deian Glyn, one of the company’s directors, commented ‘The acquisition of Oak Tree Lodge was a natural fit for us. We were struck by the high quality of care provided at the home and we look forward to continuing the person-centred care provided by the long-standing team there.”

Oliver McCarthy, business agent (Care) at Christie & Co, handled the sale and commented, ‘We are delighted to be a part of Deian & Sophie’s impressive journey, and we wish them all the very best at Oak Tree Lodge Care Home and we hope that Richard and Sue enjoy their well-earned retirement!”

“The market for care homes in south west is stronger than it has been for many years and we continue to see an abundance of well-funded buyers seeking opportunities in the region.”

Oak Tree Lodge was sold off market for an undisclosed price.

December 13, 2019

ThinCats announces the departure of chief development officer

Damon Walford

ThinCats a leading alternative lender to mid-sized businesses today announces the departure of Damon Walford, chief development officer.

Since joining ThinCats in July 2016 Damon has helped ThinCats develop a market leading proposition, relaunch its brand and establish a nationwide origination team. The value of ThinCats’ loan book increased fourfold during this period with annual growth in loan origination averaging 80% per year over the last three years. In August 2019 the total value of loans arranged by ThinCats’ surpassed the £500m milestone.

Damon’s responsibilities for origination will pass to Mike Hackett, ThinCats head of sales, who has over 20 years’ experience raising capital for small and medium sized businesses in senior corporate banking roles at RBS and Santander. Damon’s other responsibilities will be absorbed by the ThinCats’ leadership team.

Damon said: “I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved in taking ThinCats from a niche P2P lender to a mainstream alternative funder of the mid-sized businesses that play a key part in driving the UK’s economic growth.

“ThinCats is in a great position to build from here and I am confident that they will gain further traction within the corporate finance, accounting and private equity finance communities. I am looking forward to my next challenge.”

Amany Attia, chief executive, ThinCats: “Damon has been instrumental in helping ThinCats become a genuine funding alternative to the banks for many mid-sized businesses across the UK. I would like to thank Damon for his contribution to so many areas of the business over the last three and a half years.

“Damon leaves us well placed to capitalise on the increasing appetite from institutional investors to allocate more of their investments to business loans, which will enable more businesses to look beyond their banks for better funding solutions. We wish Damon well in his future endeavours.”

December 13, 2019

Christmas comes early as Pluto Finance closes over £100m in the first week of December

Christmas came early to Pluto Finance’s borrowers this year, as the specialist lender made over £100m of new loans in the first week of December. The Pluto Finance team closed a record-breaking level of development and bridge lending early on in the festive season.

Loans last week include development funding for office to residential schemes in Buckinghamshire and Essex, development exit bridge in Bracknell and an acquisition bridge for a Leeds office building.

Speaking on behalf of Pluto Finance, Mario Ioannides said, “Whilst most of our competitors are already lost in the fog of Christmas lunches and arguing over who will get the Savills salmon this year, the Pluto team have once again knuckled down and delivered a large volume of complicated financing to extremely tight deadlines. I am particularly proud that over £90m of these loans have been to repeat Pluto borrowers, recognising the excellent customer service, pricing and flexibility that Pluto offer.”

With the recent hires of bridging specialists Simon Chapman and Chris Scott, Pluto Finance is looking forward to increasing bridge lending in 2020, as well as continuing to provide development finance at rates starting at 3.95%.

December 13, 2019

HMRC issue official warning as fraudsters up the ante in the run up to the Self-Assessment deadline

HMRC has issued an official warning to millions of self-employed people throughout the UK to remain extra vigilant in the run up to the Self-Assessment deadline on 31st January 2020.

Statistics revealed by HMRC shows there has been almost 900,000 reports of suspicious contact over the last year – ranging from phone scams, social media scams, and bogus tax rebates which made up two thirds of all reports.

What should I look out for when it comes to fraudsters?

Fraudsters and scammers are using increasingly sophisticated methods to target their victims which are often very convincing, particularly around this time of year. So, what should you look out for?

Ask yourself:

Am I being asked for personal details such as my PIN, password or bank details? HMRC and other organisations such as banks will never contact you and ask for personal details such as these. Whilst they may ask for information such as the first line of your address, or your date of birth, you should never be asked to divulge secure personal information.

Was I expecting a message? Whether it be a call, text or email, first consider if you were expecting to receive a message, particularly from this recipient. Then consider the contents of the message. Is someone offering you a refund? Are there attachments or links? Does the senders email look like a legitimate domain? A level of scepticism will help protect you against fraudsters.

How have I been contacted, and what have I been contacted about? A text message, an email, or a phone call about a tax rebate with simple instructions about how to claim your money? If you are entitled to a tax rebate, HMRC will always communicate via letter. Under no circumstances will any other method of communication be used.

You should also be aware of copycat phishers, where fake websites are created that are almost identical to the verified domain. Also be aware of heavy-handed tactics, such as threats of arrest or imprisonment if immediate payment isn’t received.

What should I do if I think I am being targeted by scammers?

HMRC has a dedicated customer protection team which targets scammers – simply forward details of any suspected scams to phishing@hmrc.gov.uk, or forward suspected scam texts to 60599 and they will investigate further.

We advise that everyone remains vigilant, not just those submitting Self Assessments. If you would like any further advice about protecting yourself against fraudsters, please get in touch with your usual contact or click here to send an enquiry, which will be directed to our team of in house experts.

December 13, 2019

SmartWater secures £14m new funding from Santander

SmartWater Ltd, the award-winning forensic technology company based in Telford, has secured £14m in new funding from Santander Corporate & Commercial in support of the group’s working capital requirements and the acquisition of Perimeter Intruder Detection (PID) Systems Limited.

SmartWater scientists have patented a new system of liquid traceability that uses a robust form of encrypted ‘microdata’, with water being the application medium. The company is the world’s largest security provider of forensic taggants (uniquely encoded materials or chemistries that are virtually impossible to duplicate) used in the protection of national critical infrastructures and corporate assets. They have a rapidly expanding footprint in the manufacturing sector, where the liquid based ‘microdata’ is used to establish the production information of safety critical components, even years after they have been installed.

The acquisition of PID further enhances SmartWater’s security proposition on vacant, vulnerable or hazardous sites. Founded in 2007, PID’s product is a cost efficient smart-tech (‘robotised’) alternative to manned guarding of industrial sites, with in-house alarm monitoring centre. The units are portable and rapidly deployable, from a nationwide depot network, with video data capturing and sharing (IoT-enabled) over mobile network, offering both time-lapsed and AI capabilities. A team of former police and military personnel operate 24/7 in PID’s alarm receiving centre control room in Prestwick, Scotland, monitoring and creating incident reports when alarms are activated and, if necessary, deploying their rapid reaction security teams.

Phil Cleary, CEO & founder of SmartWater, said: “This acquisition is totally aligned with our current operational activity, protecting the key assets and infrastructure of our commercials clients. Working with the team at Santander has been like a breath of fresh air, as their understanding of the needs of rapidly growing business likes ours, bodes well for our future, particularly as we move to further expand our international footprint.”

Navin Dabasia, structured finance director Santander Corporate & Commercial, said: “Both SmartWater and PID have demonstrated a track record of success and growth in their own rights, and the combination of the two business will further enhance the Company’s position in the private security market. We are delighted that Santander, which is focused on helping customers to grow, has been able to support SmartWater with this acquisition and we look forward to building a long-term relationship with them.”

December 13, 2019

Flagship initiative reaches £1bn pipeline – a year after its launch

Together has announced it generated £1bn of applications through its flagship initiative.

The Together+ scheme was launched in January to build stronger relationships between the lender and a select group of specialist distributers by providing them with exclusive products, underwriting, sales and marketing support.

Nick Jones, the lender’s head of specialist distribution, said the scheme had been “hugely successful” in building up a pipeline of business worth £1.01bn since its launch, with £643.3m of conversions.

He said: “There’s been a lot of hard work throughout the year to build the proposition and further enhance relationships with key brokers to help them grow their business as we grow ours. We’ve focused on a group of firms – many which we’ve worked alongside for some time – and who have clients who are looking for the type of specialist finance products we offer.

“We have provided a bespoke service, including dedicated sales and underwriting teams, as well as marketing support designed to keep our partners and their clients engaged – and this has proved hugely successful.”

During the year, Together+ partners were given exclusive access to some of its products. These have included 12-month retained non-regulated residential bridging loans, fixed rate buy-to-let and consumer buy-to-let mortgages, and commercial and semi-commercial bridging products at a monthly rate of 0.85%

The lender also launched two dedicated Together+ underwriting teams and expanded its roving underwriting service and recruited two regional account managers, Paula Purdy and Marylen Edwards dedicated to supporting the Together+ partners.

Jo Breeden, managing director at Crystal Specialist Finance, a Together+ partner, said: “This is a fantastic initiative which has been great at raising the profile of the specialist lending sector. Our business has really benefited through our partnership, whether that’s through access to their underwriting team, new products or dual-branded marketing materials.”

Rob Jupp, CEO of Brightstar – another Together+ partner – congratulated the lender on its latest milestone. He said: “Building the pipeline of business to more than £1bn over the 12 months is really impressive. It’s testament to Together’s ability to nurture strong partnerships with specialist distributors and its success in providing great products to meet clients’ demands.”

December 13, 2019

Robocash attracts European P2P investments for Singapore

The fintech holding Robocash Group has integrated its in-house P2P lending platform Robo.cash in Europe with its Singaporean company Robocash PTE. LTD. The latter will provide the European P2P investors with an opportunity to invest in the business development of the group in Southeast Asia. Moreover, this is the first opportunity in Europe to invest in Singapore through a P2P lending platform.

Robocash PTE. LTD. is a holding company, which has been active in Singapore since September 2015 supporting the management and servicing of the operating entities of Robocash Group in Southeast Asia. Now, it will be delivering its long-term commercial loans to the European platform Robo.cash to allow its users to invest in the development of the group in the region. Operating within the same financial holding, the companies will collaborate within the partnership with RC Riga. The latter is a special purpose vehicle providing secured financing to the companies of Robocash Group.

Remarkably, that also makes Robo.cash the first P2P lending platform in Europe providing an opportunity to invest in Singapore. Working according to a “peer-to-portfolio” model, the platform provides fully automated investing and collaborates with companies of the financial holding only. Today, Robo.cash has 9,200 registered users. The volume of attracted investments is now over $10.6m. In return, it has provided financing for more than $146m loans.

For the platform, it is not the first integration with an affiliated entity from Southeast Asia. It already cooperates with companies of Robocash Group in the Philippines and Vietnam. However, the Singaporean company will be the first to provide commercial loans for a period of 12 months. Moreover, as Robocash PTE. LTD., Robo.cash and RC Riga all belong to the same financial group, investments of the platform will be secured by the group guarantee and negative pledge of Robocash PTE. LTD. assets.

Commenting on the integration, founder & CEO of Robocash Group added: “Until the launch of the P2P lending platform in Europe, we were bootstrapping our growth at the use of our own funds and retained earnings. In almost three years in operation, Robo.cash has proven its efficiency and become an important financial tool for us. In this sense, the integration of our company in Singapore with the platform is a strategic step forward. As the company provides management and servicing of the group’s business in Southeast Asia, this integration will significantly accelerate our development in the region. Within the next six months, we expect to raise $5m. The attracted funds will not only support the development of our companies, but also facilitate financial inclusion in the region.”

December 13, 2019

Growth trend continues as contract award values increase by 9.1% in November

The value of all construction contract awards in November 2019 was £5.4bn based on a three-month rolling average, which is an increase of 9.1% on October, and an increase of 20.2% when compared with November 2018.

The number of contract awards decreased by 1.0% in November to 855 which is also 3.8% lower than for November 2018. The leading region for construction contract awards in November was London which accounted for 17.6% of all contract awards.

The south east was the second largest region this month with attributable share of 14.7% and was followed by the north west which accounted for 12.9% of all contract awards.

The latest edition of the Economic & Construction Market Review from industry analysts Barbour ABI, highlights levels of construction contract values awarded across Great Britain.

The residential sector was the largest in terms of contract awards in November with share of 38.1% which compares to just 28.0% share of awards in October. The commercial & retail sector was the second largest this month with attributable share of 18.2%, benefiting from some larger-scale office developments. Accounting for 15.9% of all construction contract awards this month the infrastructure sector managed to secure third place.

The largest value contract award for November was the £156.5m White City Place, at Shepherds Bush in London. The project will involve the construction of three structures to provide a new office space.

Commenting on the figures, Tom Hall, chief economist at Barbour ABI and AMA Research said: “We continue to see an upwards trend in contract awards value following on from lower levels in August and September of this year. As a result of the General Election the outlook may shift with the differing party policies.”

Download the full report here.

December 12, 2019

Metro Bank joins forces with Sensibill

From this week, Metro Bank is inviting selected small business customers to join a free beta trial of its forthcoming app-based receipt management technology.

The Bank has partnered with Canadian technology firm Sensibill to offer this new feature which is free and will be available to all small business customers via the Metro Bank app in early 2020.

UK small businesses lose 15 days of paid work a year, spending two hours each week retrieving company expenses. What’s more, research shows that three out of four small business owners don’t claim all of their expenses, and nearly 20% claim less than half of their expenses, or none at all.

Metro Bank’s solution will mean small business customers no longer have to deal with manual receipt organisation. Receipts can be captured using a smartphone camera, and are automatically reconciled to the customer’s transaction history – giving SMEs back vital time to spend running and growing their businesses.

The pilot launch is just the first in a long list of innovations that will be pioneered by the Bank as it brings new game-changing digital solutions to the market. In 2020, Metro Bank will take the essential daily tasks of invoicing, receipt management, bookkeeping and VAT returns, and embed them intuitively into the Metro Bank mobile app and online banking, and also link them up with cloud accounting providers.

This development comes as Metro Bank sets about injecting much needed competition into the small business banking market – deploying the £120m funding it was awarded from the Capability & Innovation Fund alongside the Bank’s own investment to transform the UK SME banking experience.

Paul Riseborough, chief commercial officer at Metro Bank, says: “Accounting tasks, along with chasing invoices and staying on top of receipts, are major pain points for SMEs. By partnering with Sensibill we’re offering an innovative, digital solution that solves real problems for our customers, saving them time spent on admin and allowing them to focus on running and growing their business. And this is just the first piece in the puzzle as we set about developing a major new digital ecosystem of services to help SMEs.”

Corey Gross, co-founder and CEO at Sensibill, added: “Metro Bank is building a suite of compelling tools that will help transform the small business banking experience in the UK. Our partnership with Metro Bank demonstrates our shared focus to deliver customer-centric solutions that improve the financial well-being of banking customers. We’re excited to support Metro Bank’s commitment to strengthening its relationship with their customers through digital innovation.”

December 12, 2019

TransferWise delivers same day payments for freelancers with Paydesk

British freelance payments platform Paydesk today announced its integration with TransferWise, the global technology company for moving money internationally, to offer the most efficient payments to freelance workers. Now more freelancers across the world will be able to access the benefits of Paydesk features such as immediate insurance cover and quick payments for work.

Freelancers on the Paydesk platform now benefit from quick and simple payments, lower fees and receive the real exchange rate for overseas payments. Media brands can benefit from being seen as better employers forming more positive working relationships with the freelance community, preserving reputation and encouraging repeat business.

Traditionally, some freelance payments have been regarded as slow and complex, due to issues such as duplication of invoices and 90-day settlement terms. Freelancers who are unsure when they will be paid and unsure when they will be able to pay their bills which can cause financial anxiety.

By relying on TransferWise’s lightning fast API, Paydesk’s growing community of over 6,000 freelancers worldwide can receive payments without speaking to their banks 24 hours a day, via any device, anywhere in the world. TransferWise also ensures Paydesk can scale to expand volumes and create new user accounts quickly and securely.

CEO and founder of Paydesk Henry Peirse commented, “Paydesk’s ambition is to let freelancers anywhere in the world withdraw funds whenever they want — without waiting weeks or months for invoices to be processed. In a competitive field, TransferWise stood out as the best service for us to meet this ambition. Our mutual focus on simplicity and speed creates great synergy, the benefits of which we hope to deliver to our freelance community.

Freelancers urgently need financial control and flexibility, so the market opportunity for payment innovators is huge. We hope more fintechs and providers are inspired to join us in harnessing their expertise to improve the lives of these hard-working professionals and remove the pain points from freelance payments.”

Alastair Thompson, global head of business partnerships at TransferWise said, “Paydesk shares our vision for bringing fairness, convenience and transparency to people all over the world, so we knew this partnership would be a perfect fit. By plugging into TransferWise’s API, Paydesk is enabling more workers globally to benefit from frictionless payments, wherever they are.”

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