Recognise Bank Provides £550k commercial mortgage for the hospitality sector

Deal will be used to purchase a property currently operating as a restaurant in a busy resort town.

Recognise Bank has agreed a £550,000 commercial mortgage for a property investment firm to acquire a retail unit in the popular seaside town of Bournemouth, currently being used as a Korean Japanese restaurant.

The borrower, Nofesh Ltd, was introduced to Recognise Bank by mortgage broker Asher Goldman, of Goldman Property Finance Ltd., who had dealt with Recognise before and was confident the Bank would be able to complete the deal smoothly.

Asher Goldman said: “As the country recovers from Covid, we’re seeing more interest from clients in properties in the hospitality and leisure sector, and this case is a perfect example. We found Recognise Bank has a real appetite for such cases and the deal went through without any hitches.”

Ossie Mocton, Director of Nofesh Ltd, added: “We had previously dealt with Recognise so had no problems doing so again. They clearly understood where we were coming from, and the application process was relatively straightforward. We found their team to be willing and able and it was a smooth transaction. We would certainly deal with Recognise again.”

James Meigh, Director, Business Development at Recognise Bank, commented: “We have seen an increase in lending applications from the hospitality sector in recent months since the easing of pandemic-related restrictions. While there are clearly significant economic challenges ahead for businesses and consumers, a deal like this is good news for the retail and hospitality sector, which in turn is a positive sign for the economy as a whole.”

Recognise Bank was created to provide SMEs with digitally enabled, relationship-led banking, offering a range of unregulated lending options via a network of relationship managers across the UK. Despite only receiving its full authorisation in September 2021, Recognise has already achieved £100 million in lending.

In September 2021 it launched a range of Personal Savings accounts, which has so far attracted £95 million in deposits, launching Business Savings accounts in April this year. The Bank recently announced that it will benefit from an £8.7 million fundraise of fresh capital that will be used to support further lending and the development of its innovation and digital capability.

Steve Pateman

Steve has had an extensive executive career in banking, leading corporate and commercial banking businesses at RBS/NatWest, managing Santander’s UK banking businesses and as CEO of Shawbrook Bank, Hodge Banking Group and most recently successfully leading the banking licence application for StreamBank.

He is a non-executive Director at Bank of Ireland both in the UK and Dublin and Thin Cats, a specialist SME lending business and is retained as an advisor to Black Lion Ventures. He was previously President of the Chartered Banker Institute.

Steve took up the role of Chair (subject to regulatory approval) at Recognise Bank in November 2024, having served as an Investor Non-Executive Director since January 2024.