Issue 7 2019

6 CEO MONTHLY / ISSUE 7 2019 , ElysiumBridging is a short-term residential bridging lender that offers bridging loans throughout England, Scotland andWales. Following ElysiumBridging’s recognition as the ‘Most Outstanding Bridging Loan Experts in the UK’ in the 2019 Financial Leaders programme, we spoke with the firm’s CEO, Paul Gammond, to find out more. Elysium Bridging : An Early Disruptor on the Bridging Market Despite being established just two years ago, Elysium Bridging has made quite the impression on an -admittedly – crowded sphere of the greater financial landscape. Regardless of stiff competition, Elysium have thrived, finding early success through an altogether traditional approach to their work and services, with a focus, primarily, on client service. “We still believe in the old adage of ‘people buy from people’ and we demonstrate that attribute every single day. What makes us stand out from the crowd is our quick, friendly, no fuss approach to even the quirkiest of lending scenarios”. As Paul explains, though the crux of their services is rather simple in principle, it’s this core premise that has proved vital for establishing an exceptional reputation so swiftly. “We lend short term, but complete very quickly and lend against any residential or semi commercial property as long as it isn’t owner occupied. We also do small out of the ground developments in England. Most of our clients are normally passed on by finance and mortgage brokers, but we do have a few direct clients. Ultimately, we specialise in the bridging and development market, and have reinforced our position through the hard work of an experienced, and highly capable, team.” Paul continues, touching on the more bespoke nature of their services, and how – at all times – the client remains at the forefront of their solutions. “As the company grows it is incredibly important for us to maintain a ‘small business mentality’. To help achieve this, we are currently recruiting more staff to ensure that no area of the business is short- handed or compromised. For us, the personal touch makes us different to others in the industry, region and market, so it is important for us to remain true to our founding ethos. With this in mind, we make sure that clients and brokers can always pick up the phone to a decision maker any time of the day. We are goal- orientated and want to provide ‘real-world’ solutions for our clients even if it means looking ‘outside of the box’.” As a result of their significant efforts, the firm was recognised in EY’s 2018 UK Bridging Market Report [LINK: https://www.ey.com/ Publication/vwLUAssets/EY-UK- bridging-market-study-2018- and-beyond/%24FILE/EY-UK- bridging-market-study-2018.pdf] as a ‘notable participant’ - quite the achievement for a firm just a few months old. “We have made great success when we launched. May19526