Property loan firm upbeat as it opens up Belfast office

A SPECIALIST property lender based in London has opened an office in Belfast, despite the “dampening” effect of Brexit.

Ortus Secured Finance is now based at Arthur Street, establishing a bricks and mortar presence after five years of lending around £200m in the province.

It will be led in Northern Ireland by ex-Bank of Ireland executive Shane Donnelly.

Ortus was one of the first ‘disruptors’ in the banking industry to offer alternative property fiand nance. Its first major loan here was the refinancing of a residential and commercial portfolio in north Belfast.

It’s also approved deals for pub finance, property refurbishment, site finance and bridging finance. Now it plans to create up to 10 Northern Ireland jobs over the next 18 months.

Ortus managing director Jon Salisbury said Brexit was having an impact on investor decision making.

“It seems to be having a sort of a dampening effect on people looking to buy large high value assets. But we don’t see a major difference between the impact it’s having in Northern Ireland

Ortus director in NI Shane Donnelly (left) and the property lending company’s managing director, Jon Salisbury

the impact in the rest of the UK.” He said deals were still happening, but people wanted certainty — whether that happened to be the certainty of a no-deal or otherwise.

“We’re still seeing deals and working on them at the minute. They’re still happening.

“People are a bit more cautious about making a decision now when there could be certainty around the corner.

“If you read the market commentaries, nobody knows what’s

happening, but it won’t necessarily be terrible, whether it’s a nodeal or a deal.

“People may not be waiting for one outcome or another — they’re just waiting to know.”

He said the physical presence here demonstrates its commitment. “We have huge respect for the business and professional community and believe there is significant untapped potential for specialist lenders like Ortus. We have spent time getting to know the market before taking

the decision to open an office.”

He said Mr Donnelly was “an experienced real estate finance professional and very well-connected in the Northern Irish business community”.

Mr Donnelly, who spent 11 years at Bank of Ireland, preceded by nine years at Anglo Irish Bank, said: “Ortus’ relationship-based model and unique product offering is ideally suited to service a growing local property sector and take full advantage of funding gaps in the market.”