Cambridge & Counties opens for business in Birmingham

CHALLENGER bank Cambridge & Counties has opened its first Birmingham office.

The East Midlands business has opted to move into the city after seeing customer increase sharply.

Cambridge & Counties Bank, which launched in 2012, offers property-based lending and asset finance via brokers and direct to SMEs and property investors.

The company has selected offices in Colmore Plaza as the base for the bank and the operation is being has led by Neil Reddington, director of business development for the West Midlands. Reddington joined Cambridge & Counties at the start of 2015 and has moved across from its Leicester head office.

He will be joined in Birmingham in early 2016 by another member of the business development team, Alex Churchill.

Reddington said: “It’s great for the bank to be at the centre of the financial district of Birmingham, my home city. We’ll be able to better connect with those at the beating heart of this vibrant commercial region.”

Birmingham is Cambridge & Counties’ fifth office – joining Leicester, Cambridge, Sheffield and Bristol.

Chief executive officer Mike Kirsopp said: “Being physically close to our key markets complements the bank’s ethos of experienced managers and underwriters providing quick decision making and a personal and straightforward service.

“We look forward to working with the West Midlands’ brokers, the professional community and with direct customers to grow our business and theirs.”

Cambridge & Counties Bank has now lent more than £425m to SMEs and experienced property investors.