Aspen Bridging has expanded its office floorspace by 50% and appointed Richard Coombs as credit analyst as the firm prepares for its next growth phase.

The new 1,600 square feet building, which has been reconfigured and combined with their existing 3,200 square feet HQ in Solihull, near Birmingham, has been secured on a 10-year lease and includes more meeting and privacy rooms for third-party calls as well as extra space for current and new team members.

Coombs (pictured) joins the lender having previously worked in the City of London as a finance analyst. He also possesses extensive property development experience.

Jack Coombs, director at Aspen Bridging, said: “In 2022 we grew our loan book by well beyond our 50% target for the year partly due to the introduction of Heavy Works, No Valuation and Bridge-To-Let products.

“The new office area will allow us to bring the whole underwriting team into one large open plan space and will help enable Aspen to deliver first in class service to our brokers and borrowers and continue on our planned growth trajectory.

“S&U PLC and its subsidiaries including Aspen is a family run group, we are excited to welcome Richard to the team and this appointment represents the fourth generation of the family joining the business. We will soon also be announcing the hire of several graduate underwriters to complement the team.”