42 | Northern Enterprise Awards 2021 Oct21502 Best Emergency Bridging Finance Specialists 2021 When a decision needs to be made quickly to make the most of a spectacular deal, it can be hard to find the funds necessary. The team at Certain Bridge have made it their mission to ensure that their clients can make rapid investments without impacting their long-term plans. We take a closer look at how their business model has enabled them to thrive in the Northern Enterprise Awards 2021. In many situations, speed is of the essence. Picture the scene – the right piece of land has suddenly become available. The property development you’ve been dreaming of suddenly becomes a very real possibility. The problem? Money. No bank can move quickly enough to secure a short-term loan, and even if they could, they are not so inclined. Your dreams have been stifled before they’ve even begun. Alternative investment solutions have always been part of the financial markets, but now more than ever, there are new options on the table to fill the gap left by big banks following the fallout of the 2008 financial crash. Certain Bridge is part of this new wave of innovative thinking, offering very fast bridging finance to avoid situations like the above. When Gary Hall and Charles Oates established the firm in early 2018, they wanted to create a place where time was of the essence, and speed was used as a competitive advantage. The world of bridging finance was the ideal place to begin that journey. Bridging finance, put simply, takes the form of short-term mortgage loans. These are designed to assist property developers, property investors and business entrepreneurs to move forward with their plans while not being forced to change their long-term financial arrangements. Often, there are the resources long-term to deal with challenges, but what is required is funds right there and then. The Certain Bridge team excels in being able to offer a solution incredibly quickly, often on the next day as requested. Big banks bring big bureaucracy, forced upon them by long-winded processes and restrictive regulations. The approval of a loan can take from six to eight weeks, by which time a surprise deal can have been long lost. The purpose of Certain Bridge is not to take the place of the big banks, but to act as an alternative proposition in different circumstances. For long-term financial planning, the fees involved at a bank are cheaper, but they don’t work as quickly as the Certain Bridge team. The growth of alternative financing solutions can be seen across the financial sector, much of which revolves around business funding. For SMEs, this transformation in the industry at large has been a godsend, as it has allowed them to find new ways of investment. For some, crowdfunding solutions such as Kickstarter have been key to allowing them to thrive, but for many it has opened the door to a whole new realm of possibility. When looking at bridging finance, what is obvious is that it isn’t suited to every occasion. To specific circumstances, however, it is an ideal alternative to high street banks, and therefore has become an invaluable tool for SMEs. The speed with which this has been recognised and adopted across the industry at large is astonishing, and a clear reflection of the way in which the unique needs of these organisations have been ignored for so many years. The success of the team’s approach can be seen in the way they interact with their customers. For many, the need to move fast is matched only by the Certain Bridge team’s ability to do so too. Often, this comes in the form of property, but the team has tackled a variety of different cases over the years. While the breeding of pedigree dogs might not seem like an issue which would need urgent care, the chance to buy business assets rapidly saw one breeder turning to Certain Bridge asking for £60,000. This was on a Friday lunchtime. For many in the industry, progress on this case would begin on the Monday, but the Certain Bridge team aren’t like most in the industry. By close of play, they had completed the various valuation and credit checks, by Saturday they were signing the paperwork with the client and by Monday, the client received the funds. Some opportunities are once in a lifetime – Certain Bridge provides the opportunity. When looking at the team, it’s clear that they care deeply about the needs of their customers. Whilst direct staff numbers are relatively small, they bring multi decades of direct industry experience. This facet coupled with the use of a small select band of highly skilled Professionals known to the core team for decades ensures high quality expeditious delivery of clients Bridging needs. Leading up the business are four highly skilled executives who deal with each of their customers individually. Phoning up Certain Bridge means talking directly to a real person who can make big decisions quickly, and often do. Where many in the industry have placed their trust purely in the power of the algorithm, this team have taken the time to ensure that they know their customers’ businesses inside out. Holistic decisions are made on the basis of this information. The idea of knowing a customer, and their specific needs, is not a new one, but the team at Certain Bridge elevate the skill to a new level. More than numbers in a spreadsheet, they are able to offer a level of intimacy which used to be offered by branch bank managers before cost cuts got rid of most of them. This familiarity means that when clients turn to Certain Bridge, they receive absolute honesty. It’s undeniable that a loan from Certain Bridge will cost more than one from Lloyds, but at Lloyds, you could be waiting for weeks only to receive an emphatic no. The ability of the team to be pragmatic and flexible in trying circumstances is the secret behind their extraordinary success. We celebrate the firm’s achievement, not just for industry as a whole, but as a shining example of Northern enterprise over the years. Company: Certain Bridge Name: Gary Hall / Charles Oates Email:
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