Steve Swyny, commercial director of Envelop, talks about evolving alongside a changing market, the demand for packaging in the specialist sector and growing the business without sacrificing quality.
What is the main reasoning behind the rebrand from First 4 Bridging to Envelop?
It’s all about evolution. The specialist lending market has evolved in recent years and we have evolved as a business in line with this.
We are extremely proud of the work that went into building the First 4 Bridging brand and the reputation we have established over the past 20 years.
However, in truth, we were doing less and less bridging and became more heavily involved in complex residential transactions, buy-to-let, second charge, commercial term loans and development finance.
The brand ended up feeling a little restrictive as we have ambitious growth plans in place for both us as a packager and for our network which has just reached the 100 AR milestone.
So, does this rebrand signify a move away from bridging?
Bridging finance is what we are best known for and it would be foolish to turn our backs on this as we have some fantastic relationships in place with a variety of lenders which allows us to access exclusive products and the most favourable terms.
This is an area where we will continue to be active but growing demand from our introducers and intermediary partners dictates that we need to operate in all the specialist markets to deliver the type of solutions which can make a real difference to their clients and their business.
Where do you see the Envelop brand sitting in the current intermediary marketplace?
We see the new brand as being the home of property finance and one in which our experience, expertise and established relationships will help us continue to stand out.
We are unashamedly still a packager and one whose offering is based on quality, by which I mean providing the highest service standards and speed of decision-making.
From a packager and network perspective, we want to be seen as elite in everything that we do. Our aim is to make brokers lives easier by doing all the heavily lifting and providing them with time to service their clients and build their business.
Many of our intermediary partners and introducers already consider us as a trusted specialist extension of their business and this continues to be the aim of Envelop moving forward.
How has your packaging proposition evolved in recent times?
I’ve touched on this earlier but evolution really is the key to ongoing success in the intermediary market.
We have always operated in a complex marketplace but the pandemic has considerably changed borrowing requirements and market dynamics.
Hence there has been an increase in enquiries for more alternative forms of lending.
Brokers that previously used us almost exclusively for bridging started to ask if we could help with other specialist deals as they trusted us and their previous experience with us had been so positive.
If we did not provide a service for them then naturally the broker would go elsewhere, so it was a bit of a no-brainer to significantly open up our packaging proposition to meet this demand.
The network has just reached 100 ARs, what are your plans for the future?
This is only the beginning for the Envelop Network as we will continue to develop our offering and provide our advisers with access to a comprehensive range of lenders and service providers, in addition to the tools and support to meet their clients ever-changing needs.
The plan going forward is to grow the numbers consistently with quality AR’s that produce quality business.
We do not have a finite number of advisers that we want to achieve and we pride ourselves on offering that personal touch – which I don’t believe you can provide if you have large volumes of AR’s on your books.
Therefore, it remains vital to maintain the right balance between quality and quantity as we invest heavily in the development process and in growing with our members, and this is an area where we can’t afford to take our eye off the ball going forward.
