Some 62% of finance brokers have said that they expect their business to grow over the next 12 months, according to new research.
United Trust Bank’s most recent broker sentiment poll asked brokers in the bridging, development, structured and asset finance sectors how they expected their businesses to perform over the next year.
The majority of responses were broadly positive with nearly two-thirds of brokers expecting their business to grow.
The results from the broker sentiment poll were:
In a similar poll carried out by United Trust Bank in December 2017, 56% of brokers predicted that 2018 would be a good year for their businesses, while a further 35% expected it to be “steady”.
Harley Kagan, group managing director at United Trust Bank (pictured above), said that it was hard to believe that we were halfway through 2018 and less than a year from Brexit.
“It’s encouraging, therefore, to see that most brokers are expecting to grow their businesses over the next 12 months, despite continued uncertainty surrounding our future relationship with the EU and something of a change of mood in the residential property market.
“Like us, many brokers are seeing opportunities in the challenges.”
Harley continued by saying that UTB had enjoyed a very successful first six months of the year as it continued to grow in several respects, including lending volumes and headcount.
“We now have more BDMs and originators than ever, introducing a variety of UTB products and services to brokers and customers across England, Scotland and Wales.
“The investment we’ve made in expanding the mortgage and bridging sales teams last year – and more recently the development finance team – is paying dividends.
“Our structured finance division has also had a busy first half year providing fast, flexible and dependable funding solutions for more complex scenarios and we continue to invest in technology to help us maintain our award-winning service standards and increase our lending across the bank.
“To underline our commitment to supporting brokers looking to grow this year, we have invested more capital in UTB, which allows us to continue to provide stability, confidence and assurance to brokers that if they are looking to fund opportunities for their customers, our book is always open for good quality business.”
Source: Bridging and Commercial