Certainty and clarity from professionals

Rory joined Sancus in January 2021 from The Somerston Group where he managed their European real estate platform. Rory has over 20 years experience in the UK and European property market. He has an extensive track record in M&A, corporate finance, capital raising, debt finance, investment management and property development.

Emma is a Fellow member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and qualified with Deloitte in 2004. Prior to joining GLI in 2013 she was Head of Business Analysis and Projects at Sportingbet, an online gaming company from January 2007 to October 2013 where she was responsible for formulating strategy across Europe and Emerging Markets. From November 2004 to January 2007 Emma worked as an Account Manager at Marsh Management Services (Guernsey) Limited, a Captive Insurance Company. Emma joined the Sancus Lending Group’s board in September 2014.

Mr Whittle has a background in the high tech service industry and more recently large third party Fund Administration. He has in-depth experience of strategic development and mergers/acquisitions. He has experience of listed company boards as well as the private equity, property and fund of funds sectors. He is currently a director of Starwood European Real Estate Finance Limited (listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange), Chenavari Toro Income Fund Limited (admitted to trading on the Specialist Fund Market of the London Stock Exchange) and Globalworth Real Estate Investment (“Globalworth”) listed on AIM. Mr Whittle, a Chartered Accountant, has also served as Finance Director of Close Fund Services Limited (responsible for internal finance and client financial reporting), Managing Director of Hugh Symons Group PLC and Finance Director and Deputy MD of Talkland International Limited (now Vodafone Retail). Mr Whittle is Chairman of the Remuneration and Nomination Committee and the Audit & Risk Committee.

Mr Smith was formerly an Executive Director and the Chief Investment Officer of The British Land Company plc, the FTSE 100 real estate investment trust, with responsibility for the group’s property and investment strategy, standing down in 2013. Prior to this, Mr Smith was Global Head of Asset Management and Transactions at AXA Real Estate Investment Managers, where he was responsible for the asset management of a portfolio of assets valued at more than €40 billion on behalf of life funds, listed property vehicles, unit linked and closed end funds. Prior to joining AXA in 1999, Mr Smith was Managing Director at Sun Life Properties for over five years. Over the last decade, Mr Smith has worked extensively in governance related roles for a number of real estate focused organisations. Mr Smith is Chairman of the Board and is a member of the Audit and Risk Committee and Remuneration and Nomination Committee.

Mr. Smith was appointed to the Board on 11 May 2021. He is resident in the UK.

Ms Clarke is a representative of the Somerston group of companies (“Somerston”), the Company’s largest shareholder which has the right to nominate one individual for appointment to the Board.

Ms Clarke joined Somerston in 2016 and acts as the group’s Chief Operating Officer.  Ms Clarke is also Managing Director of Carlton Management Services Limited, a licensed Jersey trust company business.  Ms Clarke is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and holds the CISI Investment Advice Diploma.

Ms Clarke was appointed to the Board on 9 March 2022 and is a member of the Company’s Audit and Risk Committee and Remuneration and Nomination Committee.

James has over 13 years experience in the UK and European real estate market.

James has extensive experience across the corporate real estate, investment and property development sectors. For the past 6 years James’ has led Somerstons land development business, a strategic land and development focused business with capacity for in excess of 2,350 units within its strategic portfolio. James holds a BSc in Investment and Finance in Property from the University of Reading and is MRICS accredited. James joined Sancus in January 2021.

Alasdair is a chartered surveyor with over 30 years’ experience within property development, construction and consultancy across the UK and internationally.

He has experience in all sectors of the built environment, with specialism in the commercial and contractual aspects of development management including appraisals, cashflows, funding, investment and exit strategies.

Matthew has over 7 years’ experience in the UK real estate market with extensive project management experience in corporate real estate, investment and property development sectors.

He was responsible for the delivery of Somerston Group’s hotel projects; delivering complex refurbishment projects in excess of 250 bedrooms in Grade I and II* listed properties. He has also been part of the land development business, a strategic land and development focussed business with capacity for in excess of 2,350 units within its strategic portfolio.

Matthew holds an MBA from the University College of Estate Management and a BSc in Architectural Technology and Management. Matthew joined Sancus in January 2021.

Steven Simpson has over 26 years’ experience in the design, implementation and administration of secure and highly available enterprise and web-based solutions for corporate customers across various sectors including finance and telecoms. He started with Nokia, going on to work for Hewlett Packard’s mission critical consultancy team.

In 2013 Steven joined Platform Black on a permanent basis as CTO and in 2016 he joined GLI (an investor in Platform Black) as their Head of Group IT to develop the Sancus Loan Management System and platforms. In 2017 Steven moved to the Sancus Group as their Head of Group IT.

Michael joined Sancus in August 2018, heading up their office in Ireland.

He has 20 years’ experience in financial services including 16 years in banking and real estate finance.

Prior to joining Sancus, Michael worked for Barclays for 12 years. From 2012 he was a Director in their Corporate Real Estate Finance Department in Ireland, focussed on investment and development property finance transactions for institutional, large corporate borrowers and private clients. His responsibilities included a leadership role across origination, structuring and execution in both Ireland and the UK. Michael also worked on a number of loan restructurings in Barclays and for two years he also worked in the Investment Bank, Barclays Capital, where his responsibilities included the origination and execution of investment property transactions on a pan-European basis for securitisation into the capital markets.

Prior to Barclays, Michael worked in Corporate and Property Finance at Ulster Bank in Dublin. He was initially responsible for a portfolio of small and mid-cap corporate borrowers, typically providing working capital finance. Latterly he worked on sourcing larger ticket property development transactions.

Michael began his career in the Financial Services department of KPMG in Dublin where he worked for four years. Michael is a fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland.

Gary joined Sancus Finance in March 2017 as Credit Director.

He has over 30 years’ experience in commercial and corporate banking, primarily at HSBC. He gained experience in various roles at the bank including corporate, credit, legal and audit – managing complex lending relationships including acquisition funding, MBOs and multi-phased property developments. He also worked in Guernsey for over two years, giving him an appreciation of the issues associated with operating in different legal jurisdictions.

Gary has a wealth of experience lending money in a wide variety of situations with particular strength in managing and mitigating risk.

Richard has over 18 years’ experience in invoice finance, asset based lending, supply chain finance and trade finance.

His roles have included working at both independent and bank owned funders in the UK, Ireland and Germany, including Aldermore Bank, AIB Plc, and Royal Bank of Scotland Invoice Finance.

He has been integral in developing and delivering sales at a strategic level and has a track record in achieving performance objectives with a keen eye on returns. He has an excellent reputation in leadership roles within both sales and relationship management.

Richard became sales director at Sancus in June 2016.

Matt has more than 20 years’ experience in the finance industry having worked for a number of Private Banking Institutions and high net worth clients in several offshore jurisdictions including Gibraltar and the Channel Islands.

He is Level 6 Investment qualified through the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investments.

Matt joined Sancus in 2021 with overall responsibility for Investor Relations across the offshore markets.

With 20 years’ experience Josh has worked across a breadth of roles spanning the industry, including mortgages and banking for a combination of retail, intermediary and family office clients.

Widely experienced in credit, as well as banking and investments, Josh holds CeMAP & Level 6 PCIAM through the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investments.

He joined Sancus in 2021 and is responsible for originating new loan opportunities and Co-Funder relations.

Paddy has over 20 years’ experience working within the financial services industry, with the last 6 years specialising in the compliance field.

Paddy joined Sancus in October 2017 from Fiat Chrysler Automotive Services where he was the compliance lead for three UK entities, reporting to the Italian Head Office.

With his particular experience of dealing with the UK regulator and knowledge of anti-money laundering and data protection regulations he works closely with the compliance departments of Sancus Funding Ltd, Sancus Finance Ltd and with all our off-shore operations.

Mel is an experienced finance professional with over 20 years in the industry.

She has worked for Together where she built out their national non-broker strategy including National Strategic Partnerships in specialist property finance.

Before Together she worked for Ratesetter in their specialist property team and prior to that held various roles over a long tenure at Barclays Bank.

Jaxon has nearly 25 years of experience in financial consultancy and management roles with a proven track record in building high level B2B relationships and has managed teams nationwide, both within businesses and through external networks.

Prior to joining Sancus, Jaxon was at Omni Property Finance where he was responsible for national business development and prior to that, Positive Lending where he was National Sales Manager and Head of Networks.

He has extensive knowledge of the specialist lending market and is well connected in the property finance space.

Amanda joined Sancus in January 2017 as Head of Marketing for the Group.

Following her degree in business, Amanda trained at Price Waterhouse before becoming financial controller of an international marketing company, this was followed by a range of marketing and business development roles before starting her own business in import and distribution.

Amanda has a broad range of entrepreneurial skills including experience of taking new products to market, digital marketing and SEO, planning and execution of direct and indirect marketing campaigns, managing public relations and sales.

She is responsible for the strategy, planning, coordination and measurement of marketing activities across The Sancus Lending Group and works closely with jurisdictional directors and their business development teams.

Claudia has extensive experience and knowledge of bridging and development finance having worked in the sector for over 10 years.

She started her career at Masthaven and most recently at Pivot as a Senior Underwriter supporting the Head of Underwriting on credit decisions and approvals and underwriting loans to completion.

Claudia is a senior member of the Sancus credit team, underwriting loans through to completion and drawdown.

Karen has over 30 years’ banking experience covering operational banking roles, including Retail Banking, Risk & Control, Project Support and Operational Management.

Karen began her career in 1988 at Barclays in Manchester City and then onto London, covering various banking roles. In 2003, she moved to Gibraltar and joined the Barclays branch there as an Operational Risk Manager. More recently, Karen has managed the Operational Teams having oversight and responsibility for the banking services, account opening, payments and credit teams. Karen also led the Operational Teams through Barclays’s strategic change programme.

Shaida has over 25 years’ experience primarily in the trust industry and is an Associate of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries & Administrators. Prior to joining Sancus (Jersey) Limited in 2015, Shaida was Head of New Business and Company Secretary for Trident Trust Company Limited for over 10 years, and she brings her knowledge and experience gained from a compliance and company secretarial perspective to the Sancus Group.

Shaida speaks a number of languages and is fluent in Spanish and French. She has attained 3 university degrees in modern languages applied to law, economics, marketing and translation through an Erasmus programme hosted by Thames Valley University, la Universidad de Granada and l’Universite d’Aix-Marseille.

Shaida’s professional career started in 1995 with Canal Trust in Jersey (the trust arm of Bilbao Vizcaya Bank), and 2 years later she left to join Mourant & Co. specifically to administer a portfolio of South American trust and corporate clients. Shaida was later asked to join Centre Trust Limited before completing her training and qualifying as a Chartered Secretary in 2000. She then went on to become a Director of Client Services with Zenith Trust Company Limited before steering away from client administration and concentrating on compliance and statutory spheres.

Shaida has an International Diploma in Corporate Governance, Risk and Compliance.

In her free time, Shaida enjoys long walks with her daughter, Emily and dog, Charlie.

Hayley has been working as PA to the Group CEO since June 2014. Prior to joining the team, Hayley began her career in various roles in the travel industry, eventually specialising in business travel.  Hayley then moved to Ermitage in 2004, managing travel for the Group, subsequently moving to the role of PA. Hayley then worked as PA for the Executive Team at Feelunique before joining Sancus.  Hayley recently qualified the Level 3 Certificate in HR.

Geoff has 18 years’ experience in financial services including 14 years in real estate and banking and is a fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland.

Prior to joining Sancus, Geoff was managing director of Situs Asset Management, Ireland where he set up and grew the Dublin office of the international loan servicing and commercial real estate advisory business.

Before Situs, Geoff worked for five years as a team leader in the asset recovery division of the National Asset Management Agency where he managed a team overseeing a portfolio of real estate loans totalling circa €1.5 billion of par debt. His responsibilities included approving and arranging debt financing for residential developments and capex projects on commercial properties.

Prior to this, Geoff worked for 5 years in Avestus Capital Partners on both the origination and finance teams. He was responsible for arranging the financing and structuring for the acquisition of large ticket commercial properties and latterly for leading the finance function on a portfolio of commercial properties worth circa €1 billion.

Geoff began his career in the Investment Management division of PricewaterhouseCoopers in Dublin where he worked for four years, followed by two years in the International Acquisition Finance team at Bank of Ireland Corporate Banking.

Bob has over 40 years’ experience in banking, and in particular in Property Finance.

His previous roles have included Head Office, Credit, Origination and Team leadership roles with NatWest / Royal Bank of Scotland and Metro Bank.

Bob has a strong track record in facilitating and completing lending transactions, and in leading SME and Real Estate Finance teams.

Sean has over 12 years’ experience in the Financial Services Industry in the areas of Property Finance, Debt Restructuring, Asset Management, Loan Work Out, Real Estate and Insolvency.

Sean joined Sancus in early 2022 from First Citizen Finance, prior to this he was a Portfolio Manager with Capita Asset Services and Relationship Manager with Ulster Bank Ireland Limited.

Sean is a Fellow of the Institute of Bankers, a Qualified Financial Advisor and holds a Degree in Property Studies.

Barry’s career spans 17 years in commercial banking & property finance, which have seen him undertake roles across various specialisms in relationship management, business development and property lending, with a specific background in bridging and development funding.

A well respected and connected property finance professional across the Yorkshire & North East Region, Barry has undertaken roles within mainstream lending, alternative lending and worked within a National Commercial finance brokerage, he understands the relationship between both lender and introducer in making the client journey as seamless as possible.

Alongside his finance role he has co-founded a property network called ‘Focus on York’ which has in excess of 200 delegates on its attendee list and has supported the British Heart Foundation through charitable donations collected at Focus on York events.

Tony is a highly motivated and passionate Business Development Manager with over 20 years experience in Sales and Underwriting within the Property Finance markets, demonstrating an outstanding track record of achievement in  financial services organisations. A proven ability to build, extract and deliver exceptional results through selling, business development and account management.

Prior to joining Sancus, Tony was at Positive Lending where he was the top performing Regional  Account Manager for 6 years.

Clare started her career with Barclays Bank where she progressed to Premier Banking Relationship Manager over 12 years with the company. Responsibilities included building key relationships with clients and providing solutions to complex financial situations whilst building a portfolio of business, specialising in mortgages and lending. 

Clare then moved to Together as Regional Development Director where she built her own network of professional introducers, supporting them with secured property lending, including residential and development finance.  

Clare has a wide range of experience and proven track record in business development and relationship management with expertise in identifying new business opportunities and managing and delivering property finance.  

Steven has over 15 years’ experience within the financial services sector with a proven track record in developing strong client relationships and delivering effective property finance solutions.

He spent most of his career at Natwest in a number of relationship roles, including building a local broker network.

He has also worked in the Alternative Finance market with his most recent position being part of the business development team at Together Money.  At Together Steven specialised in property funding, specifically bridging and development finance.

Ross has over 20 years’ experience in the finance industry having worked for a number of finance brokers where he grew his knowledge of the financial sector through the processing of second charge, bridging, commercial and development applications.

Prior to joining Sancus, Ross worked at The Loan Partnership for 8 years, helping grow the company from a  team of 3 to a team of 25 prior to their sale to LSL Property Services in 2022.

Steve joined Sancus Limited in July 2014 as Business Development Manager and has over 40 years banking experience.

He started his career in 1973 with Midland Bank based in Lymington. Steve moved to Jersey in 1976 gaining retail banking experience in various roles until 1987 when he joined Charterhouse Bank where he was a member of their Credit Committee. He also worked for RBS looking after International clients before moving to HSBC in 1992 working with corporate and commercial clients.

Steve transferred to HSBC’s Personal Banking department, eventually leading a local Premier Banking team within HSBC and more latterly acting as a Senior Premier Manager to a small portfolio of Jersey clients with complex banking needs.

Steve’s knowledge covers all aspects of banking including payments, FX, mortgages, deposits, lending and client relationship management.

By way of leisure activities Steve is an active golfer being a long time member of the Royal Jersey Golf Club and also sits on the junior committee of St Pauls Football Club.

Neil’s career spans 18 years in finance with 10 years at Standard Chartered, managing private clients’ wealth across sub-Sahara Africa.

Neil then joined the family business in 2018, designing and supplying timber framed houses to the construction markets in Jersey, Guernsey and the UK.

Neil joined Sancus in 2021 and is responsible for generating loan origination from Jersey and Guernsey property developers and investors.

Eric joined Sancus after 11 years at Barclays where he started in personal banking, gaining further experience through various roles at the Bank, the most recent being in Premier Banking where he dealt with high value, Jersey clients.

Eric moved to Jersey in 2019 after finishing his studies abroad and started his career in finance shortly after. With a focus on customer service, Eric is always available for a cup of coffee to talk about our current offering!

Lino moved to Gibraltar from the UK in 1985.

He joined Royal Bank of Scotland in 1990, working his way to the role of Head of Mortgages, a position he held from 2006 to 2010.

Lino then moved to NatWest as Head of Premium Banking and Mortgages in 2010, where he stayed until moving to Sancus (Gibraltar) in 2016.

Over this time Lino has gained great experience in the area of mortgages, lending and credit and is well known throughout the Gibraltar business community.

Stuart joined Sancus Limited in Jersey in December 2016 as Business Development Manager after 38 years banking experience with the RBS Group.

He started his career in 1978 with RBS in Glasgow, before moving to London in 1980, followed by a move to Jersey in 1985.

In the last 20 years , Stuart specialised in the provision of banking services to the important Trust Funds & Intermediary markets in Jersey, and has built up a significant network of clients & contacts from that area.

By way of leisure activities Stuart is an active golfer at the Royal Jersey Golf Club, and a keen cyclist who achieved a long-standing ambition in 2016 of climbing the Pyrenees in a charity cycle challenge.

Evelina started her career in Jersey in retail management before moving to finance, including a position at Barclays where she held a customer facing role, acting as liaison between clients and back-office teams.

Helena a biomed graduate, starting in IT as an apprentice delivering full stack projects.

Before starting her career in software development she worked in sales and had experience of programming to simplify her daily work tasks.

Helena is a software developer within the IT team and works on the report development side of our in-house software.

Albina is a Law graduate with banking experience where she oversaw a client base of SME businesses and professionals as well as personal clients on a customer facing basis.

She supports the UK credit team in the administration and coordination of the loan portfolio, including liaising with professional third parties, customer due diligence and general administration.