I’ve not been this confident since Calder, Jeffrey and White were in the tunnel.

Now doubtless I'll regret ever saying this, but based on November's matches, we could do all right in 2018. Well, I'm pretty damned confident we won't be getting the wooden spoon. Touch, ahem, wood.

Just as there has been a transformation in Scottish rugby, so too there needs to be one in the specialist lending and packaging sectors up here. Compared to England, we’ve been languishing at the bottom of the table since time immemorial. 

For starters, many of the big name lenders in England simply don’t serve Scotland at all. Finance you can take your pick from down south – whether bridging or development, first or second charges – is restricted up here. There’s no strength in depth.

Missed opportunity with regulated bridging

The lack of regulated bridging products is particularly eye-opening, all the more so given their relevance to Scottish property law. After all, once missives are concluded, clients up here are effectively locked into a sale/purchase, and if they break the chain the cost can be punitive.

•   Scottish homeowners struggling to move home
•   Scottish private sector output growth increases
•   Scottish businesses report increase in export activity

Regulated bridging overcomes this problem, allowing for the transaction to be completed while at the same time giving clients an extended period of time to achieve a sale at the right property value. If they roll up the interest, then there is also no monthly payment, so this doesn’t impact their affordability.

Packaging sector has lacked a playmaker

Likewise, the packaging in Scotland has been pretty poor. There’s been no scale, little communication of product lines to brokers, and no end of missed sales and disadvantaged clients. The market has lacked a broker champion, a playmaker — something we’re trying to put right.

The contrast with England couldn’t be more pronounced: if you have a client in the Home Counties in need of support, you’re tripping up over packagers. But for some reason the same packagers seem allergic to the clean air north of Hadrian’s Wall.

We’re currently in discussions with numerous lenders about broadening their proposition in Scotland, setting up shop for the first time, or even adjusting their criteria. After all, why do you get postcode restrictions ‘oop North’, when in Wales there are none?

For us Scotland is a massively untapped market – with huge commercial potential. We just need to get London-based risk committees to wake up to that fact. And with more and more lenders competing for market share, the timing could be right.

Oh, and don’t get me started on Northern Ireland. I’ll leave that to next time.