- Senior hire builds on team’s growth from 40 people to more than 60 over past 12 months
- Targeting £1bn loan book in 2018, following record year in 2017
Specialist property lender Octopus Property, part of the Octopus Group, announces the appointment of Sean Deacon as Head of Core Credit, effective immediately, to support the Company’s ongoing growth through its unique Lifecycle Lending proposition.
An industry veteran with over twenty years’ experience of working in credit and risk, Sean will be responsible for ensuring the credit team maintains its high level of underwriting and excellent customer experience delivery while helping support the Company in its ambitions to grow its loan book to over £1bn during 2018.
Sean joins from Amicus Plc, where he was Group Head of Credit. Prior to this, he held senior roles at Harrods Bank, Dollar Financial, Credit Suisse and UBS AG, managing UK and International teams covering property-related lending for the residential, commercial and development sectors.
Octopus Property has doubled its origination volumes over the past 24 months, launching a number of new products as part of its Lifecycle Lending proposition, whilst increasing the size of its team from 40 people in January 2017 to more than 60 today.
Commenting, Mario Berti, CEO of Octopus Property, said:
“Sean has an impressive track record for managing credit risk which, together with his deep real estate sector experience, will support us in meeting our ambition to grow our loan book to over £1bn, whilst helping drive the wider business with change and transformation. We are excited to have him join our first class team and look forward to working with him to deliver on our target of becoming the leading provider of specialist property finance in the UK.”
Sean Deacon added:
“I have been watching Octopus Property from the side-lines and am excited to have joined a market leader which truly understands that the customer experience is the key to business success, and I look forward to working with the business to realise its growth ambitions.”
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For journalists in their professional capacity only. Personal opinions may change and should not be seen as advice or a recommendation. We do not offer investment or tax advice. Issued by Octopus Property. Octopus Property is the trading name of Bridgeco Ltd (Reg No 6629989), Fern Trading Ltd (Reg No 6447318), Nino Ltd (Reg No 9015082), Octopus Property Lending Ltd (Reg No 7531926) and Octopus Co-Lend Ltd (Reg No 8913299), Registered Office: 33 Holborn, London EC1N 2HT, registered in England and Wales and Dragonfly Finance S.ar.l. (Reg No B189290) Registered Office: Parc d’Activité Syrdall, 6 Rue Gabriel Lippmann, L-5365, Munsbach, Luxembourg registered in Luxembourg. Octopus Property Lending Ltd and Octopus Co-Lend Ltd are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Issued January 2018.