Fiduciam believes it is bucking the trend in the bridging market, having lent over £9 million in Easter week alone.

It is also on target to close another £10 million of loans by the end of April.

The £9 million of lending this week was principally in the north of England, at an average of 55% LTV with an average monthly interest rate of 0.70% per month.

The LTVs against which pension-funded Fiduciam lends are predictably more conservative than prior to the crisis. However, demand for short-term business credit is high and Fiduciam is seeing a pipeline of work comparable to record highs before the crisis.

Fiduciam is working together with RICS valuers and surveyors who still can visit premises. The lack of flights is being overcome in cross-border transactions by having staff spread out geographically and by working closely with trusted local partners. All of Fiduciam’s employees are working as normal but remotely.

Johan Groothaert (pictured), CEO of Fiduciam, said: “We have seen many short-term lenders close their doors and this is a pity because it is today they are needed most, especially when lending to businesses. We are very concerned that the general lack of credit for SMEs will exacerbate the crisis, in fact it may be worse than the direct Covid-19 implications for many SMEs.

“We have, for instance, been approached by a health care SME that needed an urgent loan to fit out a new facility, with an agreed contract to provide beds to the NHS, but who had been unable to get finance. How is this possible?

“I am glad that Fiduciam’s diversified institutional funding model has proven to work during this crisis and we are grateful to our institutional partners for keeping their commitment to helping to fund small businesses and entrepreneurs in these difficult times.”