"We target lending £1bn over the next 12 months across our residential, commercial and development segments."
Previously an originator in the real estate finance private equity team at RBS, Mert brings over eight years’ experience in the real estate and financial services sectors across restructuring and origination. A qualified chartered surveyor, Mert will support Ludo Mackenzie and Nick Westoby in growing the commercial loan book, following on from the last year’s launch of a new commercial term product.
Also strengthening the senior team are Darius Shekarrizi who joins as a BDM for the South East and Daniel Murray who has been promoted to head of London Sales.
Darius joins from bridging financier Oblix Capital, where he was BDM, London and the South East.
Daniel joined Octopus Property in March 2015 from International Financial Services Group, and was quickly promoted to BDM covering the East, where he was instrumental in growing the loan book across Essex, Suffolk and the major hubs north of London.
Mario Berti, CEO of Octopus Property, commented: “Attracting some of the industry’s brightest talent in Darius and Mert is a demonstration of both the recent success of the business but also the reputation that we are building in the market as the UK’s leading provider of alternative property finance, as we target lending £1bn over the next 12 months across our residential, commercial and development segments.
“Darius brings with him a great deal of business development experience, borne from his intimate broker relationships and deep knowledge of what is driving the property market in the South East. He joins our growing stable of dedicated regional BDMs, following the January appointment of Carl Graham in the North of England, as we focus on becoming the lender of choice across the whole of England, Scotland and Wales.
“On top of this, Dan’s promotion is well deserved and being able to promote highly talented individuals from within the business demonstrates our commitment to developing and retaining our staff, building depth of expertise at senior levels.”
