New brokerage Align Property Finance launches with heavyweight trio at the helm

He seeds of the idea of Align were planted after Matthew and Patrick met Neil at a Tottenham away game in Amsterdam, the love for their club is clearly displayed with a signed Spurs shirt high on the wall at their office I visited, while the three of them continue to be match-day regulars.

Despite their mutual support for the same club, the three of them plan to gain an edge in the market, utilising their gained specialisms through each of their unique experiences in the finance industry..

With a background in development finance, Patrick spent almost six-and-a-half years at Shawbrook Bank and, prior to that, just over two years at HTB.

Beforehand, Patrick spent time at Barclays where he met Matthew, who has spent much of his career sinking his teeth into corporate real estate, as well as the SME sector, at companies such as Arbuthnot Latham & Co and Barclays.

Neil’s experience stretches from asset finance with Lloyds Bank to the property market; his career path also saw him own a car leasing dealership, spending a number of years in the motor trade before setting up directly authorised brokerage Go Finance Ltd in 2009, a venture he runs alongside his daughter Hayley.

“Patrick has always had a development finance background in his banking career, and he's very much a specialist in that area, an expert in the field,” said Matthew.

“Similarly, I've always focused and specialised in term lending, so I've done everything from your vanilla residential, through to HMOs, PBSA, and then every different type of commercial asset available.