Loan.co.uk is to run a series of four webinars designed to help mortgage advisers identify specialist lending opportunities among their existing clients.

The Beyond Mainstream series will examine secured loans, bridging finance, specialist residential mortgages and complex buy-to-let cases.

The fortnightly lunchtime sessions will begin at noon on Wednesday 16 September, with Ronan McCaughley as host and a specialist lender joining each product-focused webinar. Each session will conclude with a short, optional case clinic.

The opening webinar will consider the market across the four areas of specialist lending.

PRACTICAL GUIDANCE

Later sessions will focus on secured loans and bridging finance before the series concludes with practical guidance on identifying specialist leads.

Loan.co.uk said specialist products could be suitable when the limitations of a conventional mortgage, rather than a client’s eligibility, presented a problem.

Examples include homeowners seeking to raise capital during a fixed-rate period without remortgaging, surrendering their existing rate or paying an early repayment charge.

Bridging finance could be considered where a purchase must complete before a sale or where a property is not mortgageable until building work has been completed.

WEBINAR PROGRAMME

The first webinar, The specialist lending opportunity, will take place on Wednesday 16 September and feature Ryan Brailsford of Pepper Money.

Paul Huxter of West One will join the secured loans session on Wednesday 30 September, while Alan Kimber of Precise will appear at the bridging finance webinar on Wednesday 14 October.

The final session, The back book playbook, will be held on Wednesday 28 October. McCaughley will speak to Michelle Westley, head of partnership marketing, about lead generation, with Rosalia Lazzara-Tilley, chief executive of Manuka Media, contributing on social media and artificial intelligence.

Figures cited by Loan.co.uk show that second-charge lending reached £2.14 billion in 2025, an increase of 24% on the previous year, according to the Finance & Leasing Association. The Bridging & Development Lenders Association recorded £10 billion of completed bridging loans, while research from Together for 2024-25 suggested that one in six mortgages was specialist.

Loan.co.uk said much of the secured-loan business was arranged without the involvement of the client’s mortgage adviser, creating a risk that intermediaries would lose both income and the wider client relationship.

“When an adviser knows those options exist, the client gets a better outcome.”

Paul McGerrigan (main picture), chief executive of Loan.co.uk, said: “Most of the clients we help through a secured loan or a bridge could get a mortgage.

“What they need is something a traditional product can’t do, whether that’s raising capital without disturbing the rate they’re on, or moving faster than a mortgage allows.

“When an adviser knows those options exist, the client gets a better outcome and the adviser keeps the relationship. That’s what this series is for.”