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p>Dragonfly’s Head of New Business on weekends, fashion faux pas and being part of a billion pound lender…
In this exciting issue of The Weekender, Medianett quizzes Dragonfly Finance’s new Head of Business, D’mitri Zaprzala, about anything and everything from childhood aspirations to his most embarrassing moments.
What responsibilities does your new role as Head of New Business include?
My main focus here at Dragonfly is growing a strong team of BDMs outside the capital. As a company, we are putting a huge emphasis on combining our strong appetite for lending in London and the South East with more lending across the rest of England. Across the country we feel there’s a great market for the products we offer beyond bridging.
We remain the “Go To” lender for when you need certainty of knowing a deal will pay out and this is proven by the ever-increasing number of deals we pay out.
Although we are known for our bridging products, we have grown our range of non-bridging products to be the largest in the sector and it’s my job to get these products out there.
Why did you choose to move from BDM to Head of New Business?
Dragonfly has grown from strength to strength since its launch five years ago and the opportunity to continue to drive further development seemed like too good an offer to turn down.
What is your favourite part about your new role?
The highlight of the job is definitely meeting new brokers and doing deals, which fortunately I get to do on a regular basis. It’s great to see there is such a wide range of deals in the market and just how we can help our brokers get them completed.
For me personally, it’s exciting to be lending in a way that high street banks can’t but also to be involved in how we communicate this with the wider market. As Head of New Business, I work closely with the marketing department to ensure that our products are reaching the right people in the right way, at the right time – which is really exciting.
Did you always want to be in finance?
I originally wanted to play for Arsenal…but once I realised that wasn’t going to happen, I turned to finance and haven’t looked back since.
I joined a high street lender when I left school, where I stayed for 11 years as a senior manager and later in a BDM role.
I moved to Octopus Investments as a BDM in 2011 before joining Dragonfly nearly two years ago.
What are the best and worst attributes to the bridging sector?
The best thing about the bridging sector is that we have filled a void after the Credit Crunch, while banks remain unable to adapt their products and policies to what the market needs – namely lenders who apply a “common sense” approach to lending.
The worst bit about the sector is the huge amount of ‘me too’ lenders, offering the world but delivering very little. We
pride ourselves on “Yes meaning Yes” which I think sets us apart in the market.
If you could reveal something that people wouldn’t know about you, what would it be?
In 1982, I was named 9th cutest baby in Britain by The Sun newspaper. There were only 10 entrants, but still…My Mum was, and still is, very proud.
What is your most embarrassing moment?
All of my interviews for the job at Dragonfly happened to be on ‘dress down Friday’, which no one had told me. Having seen the relaxed attire in the office, I turned up on my first Monday in jeans and trainers. To my horror, everyone else was suited and booted!
How do you like to spend your free time?
When I’m not working, spending time with my three young children or studying for my MBA, I’m a huge Arsenal supporter. Darts is my guilty pleasure.
If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
It has always been a dream of mine to travel to Australia to watch an Ashes series – hopefully to watch a glorious England victory (or more likely crushing defeat).
If you could invent any venture/product to launch on a crowdfunding site, what would it be?
If I were to launch my own venture I’d avoid crowdfunding and follow a proven technique - find solid backing and investment and start up my own bridging lender.
Dragonfly's Head of New Business on weekends, fashion faux pas and being part of a billion pound lender….
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