New acquisition will help deploy recent large injection
Specialist development finance lender BLEND Network has announced the hiring of senior property and finance expert Ian Granger as senior lending manager to lead the South West and Wales lending operations based in Bristol.
Granger has over 35 years of experience in banking, finance, and real estate. His most recent position was as a business development manager at Premier Guarantee, where he provided structural warranties and building control for local, regional and national developers, contractors, local authorities and housing associations covering the South West and South Wales.
His extensive banking, finance and real estate career includes roles as property development finance regional manager at RateSetter, as well as roles within the commercial SME market team at HSBC and Davenham.
Granger’s acquisition follows the recent hiring of Philip Anderson to lead Northern Ireland lending operations based in Belfast, and of Chris Mason to lead mid-country lending operations based in Cambridgeshire.
BLEND has been an active lender in the Greater Bristol area over the past two years with current projects, including a £2.3 million GDV residential scheme of nine flats in Bristol.
The arrival of Granger will also help BLEND deploy a large pool of funding recently committed by several family offices and a group of prominent investors. BLEND plans to offer up to 70% LTGDV on development finance and bridging loans in the South West and Wales.
Yann Murciano, chief executive at BLEND Network, welcomed the addition of Granger to the company’s lending team.
“Ian has a breadth and depth of experience across the real estate and finance sectors, as well as extensive regional expertise in the South West and Wales, which will significantly help us scale our loan book in those regions. Ian’s appointment will allow us to expand our presence on the ground, helping to deploy our capital in those buoyant regions in line with the government’s levelling up agenda,” Murciano said.
Granger, for his part, said he was pleased to be joining BLEND at “such an exciting time.”
“BLEND is a dynamic and forward-thinking organisation with a strong appetite to offer development finance to experienced developers,” he said.
“While there are a number of factors that continue to hinder the supply of new housing stock coming to the market, I am hopeful that by increasing the availability of development finance, it will go some way to increasing the supply of new homes in the South West and Wales.”
