Specialist lenders beat a path into Scotland

The specialist lending market in Scotland is set to double in size during the coming year due to an influx of new lenders, it has been predicted.

Your Expert Group, a new Glasgow-based specialist finance provider, said lenders were appearing offering “much improved criteria, product choice and rates”.

It described the specialist lending sector in England as “saturated”, leading to challenger banks and alternative finance providers targeting new markets.

Your Expert Group said it had launched an academy in partnership with Glasgow Enterprise Gateway. The firm has initially taken on four new recruits who will be trained in different areas of specialist lending.

Nathan Ellis-calcott, director of specialist lending, said: “There’s a buzz in Scottish financial services that I haven’t seen for many years but it’s not coming from where you’d expect.”

Founder Derek Mcphail added: “Not a day goes by without an approach from a specialist lender itching to get into a market it knows has huge potential.”