• 17-year industry veteran will further bolster regional offering
• Jan to Sept loan book growth of 16% compared to last year
Specialist property lender Octopus Property, part of the Octopus Group, announces the appointment of Paula Purdy as Business Development Manager (“BDM”), North of England, reporting directly to D’mitri Zaprzala, Head of Sales.
Paula’s appointment follows on from the three regional BDM hires announced last month, with representatives now established across the UK. These hires demonstrate Octopus Property’s confidence in the state of the regional property market, as it looks to grow its intermediary and direct client network across the UK’s major regional hubs.
Paula brings over 17 years of residential, commercial, buy-to-let and bridging lending experience. She joins Octopus Property from Shawbrook Bank, where she was Head of Sales, Residential Mortgages, increasing business and raising Shawbrook’s profile amongst intermediaries.
Paula will be responsible for deepening existing relationships with introducers, alongside building new ones, in and around major North of England cities including Chester, Liverpool, Crewe and Warrington, leveraging Octopus Property’s comprehensive residential, commercial and development product range.
Since the start of 2018 Octopus Property has added 26 new employees, supporting the growth of the loan book to over £800m. Recent regional deals include four commercial property loans, totalling £35m, across Birmingham, Edinburgh, Derby and Manchester and a £20m development loan in Edinburgh.
D’mitri Zaprzala, Head of Sales at Octopus Property, commented:
“Paula has built a reputation as one of the industry’s most successful and respected sales managers and her appointment is a significant coup for Octopus Property and a strong endorsement of our regional strategy. The rollout of our regional offering continues to gather pace, aligned with the growing demand from developers and investors outside of London and the South East. Paula’s knowledge and experience operating across the North of England will further enhance our proposition, as we look to replicate in the regions the success we have achieved over nearly 10 years.”
Paula Purdy added:
“Joining Octopus Property represents a hugely exciting challenge for me, at what is a pivotal time for the industry. Being able to offer a local service, along with the breadth of Octopus’ offering and the support of the wider Octopus Group, meant it was an easy decision and I look forward to helping the talented team meet its ambition of being the UK’s number one specialist property lender.”
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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 October 2018.