Connect hires commercial lending specialist

Connect for Intermediaries has appointed Gareth Norman as commercial lending specialist who will be offering classes to brokers from Connect’s offices in Essex, on the ins and outs of commercial lending.

He joins from Atom Bank where he was a BDM and before that he spent nine years at HSBC specialising in commercial banking.

Norman will deal with commercial mortgages of all sizes but is particularly expert in more complex deals of £1m plus or management-buy-outs that involve the purchase or sale of a commercial property.

Norman said: “I want to give both brokers and their clients the very best experience.

“I know that I will be able to increase the completion rate of commercial mortgages especially for those clients with companies or more complex commercial needs.

“Connect’s independence and the incredibly broad range of lenders that it works with means that we can find the perfect product every time.

“My aim has always been to create a situation where everyone wins and I will only ever place a deal that will be an advantage to the client.

“My aim is to enhance the broker’s reputation with their client, save them time and worry, achieve a higher level of completions than they may otherwise have been able to achieve, and enable them to see more clients than they would otherwise be able to.”

He is also an expert in helping clients who own their own company who may need to utilise their commercial property to enable company growth or improve their cash flow position.

Liz Syms, chief executive of Connect for Intermediaries, said: “Gareth’s addition to our strong commercial team will mean that we can provide brokers with assistance even for the most complex commercial cases.

“Connect is already well known for providing brokers with expert help and advice for commercial and buy-to-let mortgages.

“Gareth’s appointment will mean that we can take this one step further again.”