Pete Beaumont, director at Stamford Finance, discusses how speed, transparency and strong relationships are key to standing out in the bridging finance market.
To begin, give us some background on your career thus far and what brought you to Stamford Finance.
In 2018, I was more involved in the development space and felt both the highs and lows of a moving market. Builders and developers around me were constantly asking: “how are you funded?” That constant conversation led me to establish my own private lender in the South East, called Beaumont Finance.
Having had some success there, I then joined forces with Stuart Fraser and Daryl Cheetham to launch Stamford Finance in 2022, and we’ve not looked back!
Stamford Finance launched in 2022; what gap in the bridging and development market was the firm aiming to fill from day one?
Our main priority was, and still is, to provide simplified solutions to builders and developers – streamlining processes and eliminating all the institutional fuss.
We wanted to really focus on building relationships and offering personalised solutions to become a lender that could actually deliver at speed, without unnecessary hurdles.
How important is speed of decision-making in winning relationships in today’s market, and how do you operationalise that internally?
Speed is absolutely paramount in our industry – especially as it’s one of the main selling points of bridging. We appreciate we’re not always the cheapest, but our edge lies within our genuine speed and unmatched leverage.
As a lean business, we’re able to make decisions quickly and, most importantly, follow through. Our credit committee can come together in a matter of minutes, and borrowers can rest easy that there is no secondary underwrite if we’re presented with all the facts on day one.
We’re fortunate to be in a position where we can commit to completion in a matter of days.
Stamford uses private capital rather than institutional funding, does that change the way you engage with intermediaries?
To be honest, not massively. It just means we have to be ultra-responsive to our borrowers and brokers, as our selling point is our ability to make and commit to facilities.
We do, however, make a point of highlighting it as an edge over our larger-scale competitors, as quite often deals fall apart at the last hurdle due to institutional roadblocks or funding line issues. Our intermediaries can be assured we offer a clear run to completion, with as little red tape as possible.
What role does transparency (on pricing, criteria, or timelines) play in retention?
Transparency is so important, as the relationships we forge with both our clients and brokers are crucial to retention.
A lender that is repeatedly deceptive, and one that conjures fees out of nowhere, is unlikely to retain that repeat business. We make a point to be upfront about our fees from the start.
We always try to manage expectations and provide realistic timelines to ensure there are no crossed wires, and it’s this clear communication that ensures clients keep coming back.
Stamford describes itself as a small, focused team – how does that translate into a relationship advantage?
We absolutely love having a small team. It makes a huge difference that borrowers and brokers are dealing with familiar faces, instead of getting lost in a maze of team members.
We also take the time to get to know our borrowers personally, so we can really understand the intricacies of their scheme.
Stamford recently passed a major lending milestone; how has rapid growth changed your strategy?
We’ve always tried to be reactive, spotting market shifts early and adapting products according to trends or fiscal shifts. We didn’t necessarily anticipate the incredible growth we’ve experienced over the past year, and while we’re very fortunate for it, we’re perhaps slightly late to the party in hiring our two new team members!
Since their arrivals, we’ve witnessed the huge value they’ve added in refining our processes and expanding our reach. However, it’s important to us that we maintain the entrepreneurial spirit and commerciality of a boutique, private lender, even while we scale.
How have broker expectations evolved in the bridging and development space over the past few years?
Bridging used to be known for its rapid deployment in funds, but we’ve witnessed a real and worrying fall in efficiency over the last few years.
Where completions used to take a matter of days, brokers have now come to expect at least a month. Increased red tape and drawn-out legal processes have led to brokers expecting a painful process.
It’s our mission to bring speed back to bridging, and make it as easy and painless as possible.
Do relationships matter more in specialist finance than price, or is that changing?
I would argue that reliability is just as important, if not more, than speed of transaction and pricing. A broker may have received terms at a cheaper rate from elsewhere, but if they don’t have that certainty of completion and level of trust from a lender, they won’t move ahead. Stamford is a prime example of this is in fact, and we’re proud to be the lender that brokers will repeatedly turn to.
Often, we receive more of the ‘quirkier’ deals, from brokers who know and trust that we can talk through any potential roadblocks or adverse credit with them. We like to think of it as less of a transactional process, and more of a relationship-driven one.
Where do you see the biggest opportunity for relationship-driven lenders over the next 12 to 24 months?
I see opportunity in establishing trust from the get-go, with both our borrowers and brokers. Once the relationship has been made, and a deal has completed, you’ve demonstrated your own ability to act with integrity and in the best interests of all parties.
There’s opportunity in providing that initial level of flexibility, proactivity and pragmatism when complications arise.
If a broker hasn’t worked with Stamford Finance yet, what would you say to encourage that first conversation?
Give us a try! We won’t be for every case, but we will always give you quick feedback or redirect you to where you could be better served, if not with us. What have you got to lose?
