In this month’s episode of ‘Did you know’, we bring to you our head of origination Paul Watson so you can get to know a little more about the people behind the platform that you and hundreds of lenders and borrowers like you trust to invest money or borrow money with.
If you are a lender, perhaps you haven’t had the chance to interact with Paul, but most borrowers will have dealt with him at one point or another because Paul heads the loan origination and underwriting team at Blend Network, oversees our lending and interacts with our borrowers. In other words, Paul and his team are responsible for agreeing to lend on a project, underwriting the loan and bringing those great risk/reward loans that lenders see at Blend Network. Paul joined Blend Network in January 2019 after spending two years as a senior development finance originator at Octopus Property where he focused on large residential, mixed-use and PBSA schemes with GDV between £5,000,000 and £100,000,000. Before that, Paul worked for several heavyweight real estate firms such as Jones Lang LaSalle, RBS and a successful private property company. He is also a Registered Chartered Surveyor and has an MA in real estate appraisal and management from Sheffield Hallam university.
Paul’s legendary solution-focused approach to lending is one of the reasons we have many repeat borrowers at Blend Network who keep coming back to us every time to fund their projects. As Paul likes to say, we aren’t just lenders, we’re solutions-focused lenders.
But Paul also strongly believes that first-class customer service and solid due diligence on deals is the cornerstone to building a successful business like Blend Network. At Blend Network, we’ve all heard the heart-warming voice notes our borrowers often send Paul thanking him for a great service and for his support in getting a project across the line.
So, if you are a developer, next time you have a project you are looking to fund, pick-up the phone and ask to speak to Paul. And if you are an investor, we hope that next time you see a great risk/reward loan listed on Blend Network, you can feel even more comfortable about the level of expertise and experience of the team in charge of carrying out the due diligence.
Your capital is at risk if you lend to businesses. P2P lending is not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Investments are illiquid (the inability to sell assets quickly or without substantial loss in value). Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.
BLEND Loan Network Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (Reg No: 913456)
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