The UK platform will offer a range of products for property professionals, including residential, mixed-use and commercial bridging, development exit facilities, light and heavy refurbishment funding, vacant land loans and development finance.
The UK operation is headed by a team with experience in structured real estate finance and credit. The leadership includes executive director Ben Keenan and chief credit officer Uliana Kuzmis, alongside senior originator Mark Witherington, originator Anna Thompson, and underwriters Jamie Peacham, Nicoleta Iorgu and Chris Adams. Further hires are expected to be confirmed in the coming weeks.
Keenan (pictured top right), who has 24 years’ legal and commercial experience in real estate and structured finance, has returned to London after spending 18 years living and working in the city earlier in his career. During that period he served as general counsel and an executive board member of a global tier-one contractor, giving him detailed exposure to the UK development market. He has relocated from Pallas Capital’s Australian head office to establish and lead the UK business.
“The UK mid-market may be crowded, but too many developers and brokers still face slow processes, shifting credit appetite and inconsistent servicet,” Keenan said. “Pallas is built to change that.