Brokers from around the industry were invited to present their deals in the flesh to a specialist development funder at a recent industry event, as Regentsmead hosted its inaugural seminar event with the aid of the NACFB.

Intermediaries gathered at the trade body’s London headquarters on a sunny morning in order to quiz Regentsmead about its offering, hear more about the lender’s most extraordinary cases and present their own deals to the firm’s directors as part of its “Bring a Deal” scheme.

After an introductory speech from NACFB Chief Executive Adam Tyler, who welcomed those attending to Hamilton House, Katie Jones described to the broker audience the benefits of Association membership.

James Bloom, Chief Executive at Regentsmead, then extended his own greetings and introduced the afternoon’s first speaker: Russell Martin, Managing Director at specialist finance brokerage Finance 4 Business.

In a frank examination of his firm’s levels of business, Russell reported that though bridging and commercial finance was still his business’ mainstay, development finance had grown to account to 14 per cent (from 9 per cent in 2012) of all of Finance 4 Business’ income.

He then examined how Regentsmead’s development offering compared with that of other lenders Finance 4 Business used: though he earned, on average, less from deals with the lender and they were usually for smaller amounts, Regentsmead’s completion time (39 days) was under half of that of its rivals (89 days on average).

Quoting a statistic from credit experts Experian, he added that 73 per cent of commercial borrowers would, if declined by their bank, not go to another funder out of fear of rejection.

Russell described the Edgware-based lender’s approach to a deal, however, as “like a terrier” and that when they agreed to do a deal, the firm’s team would not easily let it go.

A few professionals who had worked with Regentsmead in the past then took the opportunity to present past case studies.

Alex Neale, Director at Midland Park homes, told attendants about a £600,000 deal for a 14-unit development near Birmingham.

After being badly let down by a high street funder, which considered its own last-minute valuation of the site to be insufficient, he attained the proper financing from Regentsmead in double-quick time.

Paul Sura, Director at Blossomfield Developments – a family business based in the Midlands – then took to the podium to describe a deal concerning the development of three five-bedroom detached houses, for which he also needed a £600,000 loan.

Though other lenders had agreed in principle to fund the project, one pulled out at the last minute while the other submitted an extensive contract with nineteen exacting conditions.

Construction ground to a halt, but a quick conversation with Regentsmead meant that Paul secured the right finance within a working week, allowing the project to continue.

It was then left to James Bloom himself to sum up the afternoon’s events and emphasise the important role that brokers play for his firm.

As he fielded questions, he revealed that 80 per cent of Regentsmead’s completed deals were received through brokers, while only 20 per cent are dealt with directly.

He also welcomed brokers to try out other lenders first if they were initially put off by Regentsmead’s higher prices as, in the end, they would benefit most from his firm’s individual approach to cases. In other words, he said, “an affair can sometimes make a marriage stronger.”

Intermediaries were then given the opportunity to “Bring a Deal” to Regentsmead, faced with the chance of winning dinner for two at The Ritz restaurant if their case proved to be promising.

Among the deals pitched was a prospective development next to a golf course worth £1.3 million, brought to the table by Michael O’Hara, Director of O’Hara Financial Services.

After that, Regentsmead took attending brokers (and journalists) to a Blackfriars pub on the banks of the Thames, to make new contacts and discuss deals over a sunny afternoon pint.

Keith Robinson, Director of Capital & Equity PLC, was one of the many brokers who attended.

He said: “I thought it was a great day, not just from a hospitality point of view, and it was very informative. It definitely opened up my eyes as to what Regentsmead is all about, what cases they can fund, and what they’re actually looking for - as James put it, “the experienced hairy builder”.

“It was a very genuine presentation and for a lender to have three clients there to talk through their respective personal experiences and cases was very brave and refreshing. These presentations emphasised how supportive Regentsmead are with their clients and what their service levels are like too.”

Speaking about the event, James Bloom said: “I was delighted with the turn out and with the feedback we had from the event, we were really pleased that the NACFB agreed to jointly host this event with us. To see so many brokers in one room and to be able to interact with at close quarters was fantastic.

“We were also pleased that two of our current clients were able to speak at the event and the feedback we had showed that this made everything more real and very informative. Our thanks go to Russ Martin and Adam Tyler and his team for helping to make this a very special day. Watch out for the next Regentsmead event coming soon.”

Russell Martin added: “‘I was delighted to support Regentsmead during its event and to provide an honest appraisal of their proposition to a broad range of brokers who had travelled to the event from as far afield as Bradford.

The event was very well planned and meticulously implemented by James Bloom, which is to be expected as this is how Regentsmead operate throughout its business. It’s encouraging to see the amount of brokers keen to learn more about this growing sector of finance and I’m sure it will yield more deals for the Regentsmead team, which they richly deserve.”