Harley Kagan, Group Managing Director
It’s hard to believe that in just a few weeks’ time we’ll be closing the first quarter of 2018 and beginning the one-year countdown to Brexit.
Journalist David Prosser first gave his take on the knowns and unknowns of Brexit in the immediate aftermath of the 2016 referendum. He revisits the topic for us in this edition of The Specialist, analysing just how much progress has been made in the last eighteen months. Without giving away too many spoilers there’s still a huge amount to do!
At the end of February, we published the Bank’s Annual Report and Accounts for 2017 and we were pleased to announce another successful year’s trading with 40% growth in lending. The end of the year saw us achieve and surpass another important milestone for the Bank, that of
becoming a business with a £1billion balance sheet.
We will also remember 2017 for our awards success, most particularly for the Mortgage and Deposits teams. Last year UTB was named ‘Best
Lender’ for second charge loans in the Specialist Finance Introducer Awards, The Personal Finance Awards and The Financial Reporter Awards. Just a few weeks ago the team added another award to our trophy cabinet as we were named ‘Best Secured Loan Lender’ at the 2018 Mortgage
Strategy Awards. The Mortgage team is about to launch a new and innovative ‘Mini-Mortgage’ and if first reactions are anything to go by, I’m hopeful that this latest venture will be just as well received by the market.
Our Deposits team have also excelled themselves,winning two awards from Savings Champion,one for ‘Best Customer Service’ and another for
‘Best Charity Savings Account Provider’, and another from Moneynet for the ‘Best Business Fixed Rate Deposit Account – take note business
owners earning a pittance from your existing deposit accounts!
The continued growth of UTB, both in business volumes and in the number of people who work with us (175+ at the last count), has been particularly pleasing given the unpredictability of the environment in which we operate and the challenges presented by the political and
economic uncertainty which surrounds us.
Although we don’t expect UTB to be directly impacted by Brexit, it’s almost certain that all of us will in some way be affected by its indirect
consequences, and these will continue to develop over the next year and beyond. Our goal is to remain nimble and responsive to change whilst
delivering the dependability brokers and our customers value so highly. By combining the collective knowledge, experience and enthusiasm of our excellent staff and supportive brokers, I believe we can find an appropriate response to any questions the future may ask of us.