Specialist lender West One Loans has strengthens its short-term lending division with four key appointments across its bridging and development finance teams.
In development finance, Shaheel Tulsidas has been appointed as development finance lending director, with Sam Tibbins joining as senior portfolio manager.
The bridging finance team has also expanded with the arrival of Christian Gugolz as regional account manager, and Abul Niloy as telephone business development manager.
The appointments come as West One seeks to deepen its capability in the short-term lending space, with a focus on building strategic relationships and scaling operational delivery in key markets.
Tulsidas (pictured) brings over a decade of financial services experience, having previously held the role of director of development finance at Invest & Fund, where he led funding initiatives through lender networks and built partnerships with UHNW individuals, family offices and institutional investors.
His track record in growing residential development lending within the alternative finance sector is seen as a key asset to West One’s strategy.
Tibbins also brings substantial experience to the team, having worked in property finance for nearly 10 years. He most recently served as associate director of origination at Shojin Property Partners.
BRIDGING
On the bridging side, Gugolz takes responsibility for Region 1 – covering London, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire. He joins from Albatross Lending Group, where he was head of sales, and previously spent eight years at MT Finance, where he rose to senior business development manager.
Niloy joins from Charleston Financial Services and brings with him direct borrower-facing experience aimed at improving client satisfaction and support.
Jez Quinn, head of sales – short term finance at West One, said the latest hires reflect the lender’s strong start to the quarter and its determination to lead in the bridging market. “Q3 has started exceptionally strongly and the appointments of both Christian and Abul to our team are a statement of intent as we cement our place as the go-to lender in bridging finance. Both bring extensive experience, and I can’t wait for them to get started,” he said.
Guy Murray, co-head of short-term finance, added that the development team is also set to benefit from the new hires. “Shaheel has evidenced his ability to build strategic funding relationships and scale operations at the highest level, while Sam’s investment knowledge gives us a strong competitive advantage.
“Their appointments strengthen West One’s ability to serve brokers who need fast execution on time-critical development projects.”