An alternative to the lending status quo

Since launching its first commercial products in late 2017, Pepper Money Commercial Lending has stood out for its agility in terms of who it can lend to and the ability to support businesses through a progressive lending criteria.

The company has already approved loans in excess of €300 million with options ranging in value from €250,000 to €10 million.

Pepper Money caters to a range of commercial property investors and SMEs wishing to refinance loans or acquire new commercial properties. As a lender, Pepper Money has sought to provide a genuine alternative to the status quo – focusing on progressive criteria, quick decisions and smooth execution.

Its head of commercial mortgages Ian Wigglesworth said: “We offer secured funding solutions to a wide range of clients from large companies and SMEs to family businesses all the way through to professional property investors.”

Pepper is very focused on quality relationship management and a smooth customer journey. “You are immediately assigned a designated relationship manager when you contact Pepper,” said Wigglesworth. “The relationship manager’s role is to support customers from start to finish with information requests and property visits, all the way through to final repayment and additional support post-loan completion.”

A key differentiator for Pepper is its willingness and ability to help borrowers who have historic credit issues but are now up to date and finding it difficult to obtain finance or refinance. “At Pepper we always take an all-round view of the borrowers’ lending proposal and believe in helping property investors and individual businesses achieve their goals,” said Wigglesworth. “This means offering progressive lending criteria and quick decisions on applications which are reviewed and assessed by our experienced and knowledgeable commercial underwriting team.”

Some deals happen in as little as four to six weeks from the initial engagement. “Equally some deals are a bit trickier,” said Wigglesworth. “We always try and mould a product to fit customers’ needs and if we can’t do business with somebody, we’ll tell them quickly.”

Pepper also offers loan terms of up to seven years, with up to three years on an interest only basis, and to help customers maximise their cash-flow they can have the option of spreading payments up to 30 years with rates starting at 5.25 per cent, thereby enhancing affordability.

Some of the more specialised products offered by Pepper Money include Bridging Finance tailored to people who find themselves with a short-term commercial property finance need. This could include small businesses looking to sell and bridge the sales period, refurbish a commercial property or changing planning on an existing property.

Pepper Money Commercial Lending comprises a team of lending and business development managers based in Dublin, Cork and Galway, with a mobile team covering other areas across the country.

“Pepper Ireland have a longterm commitment and ambition for the Irish market and Pepper will continue to grow its reputation and presence in Ireland as a leading financial services business, with ambitious plans for both commercial lending as well as our servicing business.”

Commercial lending customers are able to apply for a loan directly with Pepper Money Commercial Lending via the websitepeppermoney.ie or their dedicated customer service team on 1890 86 66 26 orcommercial@peppermoney.ie