The Interview… Dan Jones, bridging and commercial sales manager, Norton Group

Daniel Jones, bridging and commercial sales manager at Norton Group, joined the Rotherham-based specialist bridging and commercial packager and broker in August.

With 14 years of experience, he has been charged with launching and building out the specialist bridging and commercial desk. 

Can you tell us a bit about your role and your own career?

As bridging and commercial sales manager at the Norton Group, I lead the bridging and commercial packaging and broking department. I am it, in fact, so far. We’re in the process of setting everything up right now.

I’m responsible for growing the existing client base and building relationships with new and existing intermediaries.

I am delighted to join Norton at such an exciting time, in the year that it celebrates its 50th anniversary. It’s been fantastic to celebrate that kind of business track record and heritage and I’m proud to be part of the team.

I had over 14 years of expertise in lending and before joining Norton. I was a senior business development manager (BDM) at Reparo Finance, specialising in first and second charge secured lending. Before that I spent 12 years as a local business manager at Lloyds Bank.

What are the some of the biggest obstacles to launching a commercial and bridging broker and packager?

Nothing is easy right now, but the second you start to discuss the deals it always gets interesting.

I had a guy who came to me the other day. He said ‘I’ve been through a few lenders – can you find any other ones?’ And the list he sent me had 57 different lenders on it, all of which had declined him. 

We’re offering commercial bridging, development and cashflow deals at the moment. All lenders say they’re flexible and to send the deal across, but you need to work with them to understand the quirks and preferences.

Why come over to the broker side after working as a lender?

As a lender, I was so aware of the size of the non-high street commercial opportunity. It is massive, so it’s educating everyone at Norton and educating all of the brokers that are introducing deals so you’re front of mind.

Also, once you’ve paid out on a deal, brokers go looking for more potential deals, creating a virtuous circle. We’re going to get there, because there is just so much opportunity.

Training and educating brokers to take the deals on instead of handing them off is another interesting aspect of the job.

It’s simpler because it’s unregulated business, so the questions are: How much is the security worth? How much do they want to borrow? How much can they afford to repay each month? Then, we’ll deal with all the wrinkles down the road.

All you have to do is ask a business owner about their business and they will talk to you forever, because they really care about every detail. After that, as a broker you need to tell a story about why they want the money and what it will do for their business beyond the facts and figures. 

I’ve got a case at the moment – he’s a GP who owns a surgery in West London, and he wants to develop it and build flats on the back of it. The property’s currently worth about £2m, and he thought he could only borrow around £1m, but if he borrowed £2m from a development lender it’ll be worth about £8m in the end.

He had no idea he could get help on the development, take stage payments and potentially end up with an £8m development with no mortgage, all at 76 years old.

What’s next for Norton, and will market confidence build this year?

I’d like to recruit BDMs who don’t mind working on their own like me, doing their best for the customer and are outgoing and personable. We’re going to distinguish ourselves through experience, knowledge and treating the customer fairly. 

On market prospects, interest in commercial finance is on the increase, due to rising business confidence over the last few months. Falling inflation and the recent base rate cut are both driving this, as borrowers look at ways to refinance in order to fund growth and business expansion, or to pay off debt. 

With the UK economy now looking more stable, many of these SME borrowers are feeling more confident about their futures and want to push on with growth plans for their business. 

Norton turned 50 this year – how is the company marking this milestone? 

I feel truly honoured to have joined the company at such a pivotal time and there were plenty of celebrations to mark the occasion. 

On an industry level, this is such a significant achievement. 50 years ago, and even up until recently, specialist lending was considered a niche area of the mortgage market. 

Today, changing lifestyles and different employment needs means this area of the market is becoming more commonplace and will only continue to grow. Being part of that is very special.