Brokers’ amazing work honoured by bank’s CEO at awards event

The chief executive of a specialist business bank has paid tribute to the ‘amazing work’ carried out by its broker network.

Gary Wilkinson, chief executive and co-founder of Redwood Bank, has told brokers at an awards event: “We are proud of the strong relationships we have within our broker network, and it is a privilege to be able to recognise some individual achievements.

“We have started 2024 on a high and we are looking forward to further increasing our loan volumes and be even more successful this year. And you all have a big part to play in this. A large part of our lending success last year was because we listened to you, our partners.”

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Real Property Finance, from Sheffield, took away the new Lifetime Achievement award with Nantwich-based Watts Commercial Finance picking up Commercial Broker of the Year for the second successive time, and the overall Broker of the Year.

Alan Laslett, director of Real Property Finance, said: “Thank you to Redwood Bank for the award, and for supporting our clients with tailored mortgage facilities to support the growth of their businesses. We have enjoyed working with Redwood and their team who have become a trusted partner in providing funding solutions since they launched in 2017.”

The full list of winners was:

            •           Largest Deal – Funding Friends

            •           Quickest Deal – GPS Financial

            •           Most Complex Deal – White Rose Finance Group

            •           The Credit Award – BH Financial Services

            •           Best Newcomer – City Finance Brokers

            •           Commercial Broker of the Year – Watts Commercial Finance

            •           Residential Broker of the Year – Funding Friends

            •           Broker of the Year – Watts Commercial Finance

            •           Lifetime Achievement – Real Property Finance

Darren Byrne, regional director of Watts Commercial Finance, said: “Winning both the Commercial Broker of the Year and the overall Broker of the Year awards at the Redwood Bank awards is a tremendous honour for Watts Commercial Finance. It is a testament to the dedication of our team and the strong partnership we've built with Redwood Bank over the past seven years.”

Redwood started hosting annual awards in 2020, to and to recognise the contributions of the brokers it has worked with over the previous 12 months.  

Towards the end of last year, it was announced that Redwood Bank’s parent company, Redwood Financial Partners Ltd (RFPL), had signed Heads of Terms for the reverse takeover of R8 Capital Investments plc (R8), a company listed on the London Stock Exchange, in 2024.