Bathgate Business Finance has welcomed property finance specialist Ben Humphreys as business development manager (BDM).

Humphreys (pictured) has over 15 years’ experience, having worked for businesses including Wirral Chamber of Commerce, St James’s Place Wealth Management, Ingard Financial and Skipton Building Society.

He joins the West-Kirby based finance specialist from Wirral Chamber of Commerce, where he was director of membership and growth, driving the recruitment of new members and directly managing relationships with the chamber’s strategic partners and its professional business members.

Humphreys said: “Having a BDM dedicated to the property sector presents a fantastic opportunity to generate new ideas and respond quickly and effectively to changes in the market. I’m looking forward to using my expertise and depth of understanding of the sector to structure finance in such a way that delivers the best possible outcome for both future and existing clients. I also aim to bring new ideas on raising capital for enquiries into the business and use my extensive network of contacts to grow Bathgate’s already thriving customer base.”

Speaking of the current climate, Humphreys added: “Much of the impact of the global pandemic on the property sector is still to be seen, namely rental voids, the construction sector scaling back and struggles with supply chain. However, property offers great security for lenders and will be a huge resource for individuals and businesses to make sure they emerge from these difficult times in a positive place.

“Enquiries about using property assets to release cash are already coming in and we are also encouraging clients to review finances, whether for a single commercial mortgage or portfolio of properties. Lenders are still looking to lend, so now is a time to renegotiate terms, save some interest or even raise capital for future investments.”

Gordon Andrews, Bathgate Business Finance’s managing director, added: “Ben’s property sector expertise and extensive network of contacts will be absolutely pivotal to our growth over the next 12 months.

“Given the challenging economic time that he is joining us, Ben has hit the ground running with a positive attitude and some excellent new ideas, which will benefit both our current customers and help us to extend support to new clients at a time when it is very much needed.

“His approach is perfectly aligned with our company mission to help businesses start up, survive and grow and we’re excited to welcome him into the Bathgate family.