About Us
First and foremost, it’s about you. We take pride in offering a personable and personalised service tailored to your specific needs.
As a provider of short-term bridging finance, Tuscan Capital recognises that you’re spoilt for choice. That’s why we’ve designed a lending proposition and product palette we think stands out from the rest.
Working with Tuscan Capital, you’ll enjoy direct access to fully-mandated decision makers and a process free from the credit committee hassles so often encountered elsewhere in the bridging sector.
You’ll also be secure in the knowledge that our funding lines are real, substantial and available for immediate use.
Our bridging finance packages start at just £150,000 and from 0.53% over Bank Base Rate (BBR) per month.
Meet the team
The team at Tuscan Capital comprises some of the best-known names and faces in UK bridging. With years of experience between us, you can be assured of dealing with people who know and understand the intricacies of the short-term lending market.
Click on the individual images below to find out more...
(Caricatures courtesy of Ric Machin Studios - www.ricmachinstudios.com)
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Colin Sanders
Chief Executive Officer
With a career in financial services that extends over 30 years (and counting), Colin has held a number of high-profile senior roles and is a specialist in entrepreneurial start-ups.
He was a founding director of the breakthrough non-conforming lender iGroup, and helped oversee and manage its sale to GE Capital in 2001. Soon after, Colin was appointed CEO of GE Home Lending, a new entity comprising the former iGroup and First National Bank businesses.
Colin left GE in 2004 to become a founding director and CEO of Money Partners Limited, another specialist lending business that was sold in 2008 to global investment banking giant Goldman Sachs.
In 2011, Colin was headhunted to become CEO of Omni Capital Partners, a new short- term property lender that was renamed Fortwell Capital in 2017. Under his stewardship, Fortwell became a leading player in the real estate development and structured finance worlds.
Away from the office, Colin likes nothing better than a relaxing day fly-fishing, playing a round of golf, and (less relaxing) lending his support to ‘The Eagles’ (aka Crystal Palace FC).
Email: csanders@tuscancapital.co.uk
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Edward Parsons
Chief Financial Officer
Ed has 20 years’ experience in finance and accounting, including ten years in which he specialised in corporate and structured finance.
He trained as a Chartered Accountant - qualifying in 2000 - after which he focused on preparing ambitious companies for stock market Initial Public Offerings.
Ed made the move from professional practice in 2007 and joined a high-profile family office in central London. In this role, he was part of a highly-qualified team of professionals tasked to broaden the office’s offering away from a single asset class.
As part of this brief Ed formed, structured and organised the funding lines for bridging lender Omni Capital Partners which launched in 2010. With Colin Sanders’ appointment as CEO the following year, Ed and Colin proved a formidable team in the subsequent growth and success of Omni.
Much as he enjoys his spreadsheets and ledgers, Ed’s life extends beyond the balance sheet and P&L account. In his spare time, he enjoys a round of golf and following the fortunes, or otherwise, of his beloved West Bromwich Albion FC.
Email: eparsons@tuscancapital.co.uk
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Jaxon Stevens
Sales Director
With over 25 years of experience in financial services covering a variety of consultancy and management roles. Jaxon has worked for some well-known finance providers such as GE Money and NatWest, as well as more recently some smaller lenders namely Omni Property Finance and Sancus Lending.
Jaxon brings to Tuscan Capital a proven track record in building and maintaining high level business to business relationships and has a vast network of property finance professionals. He has also managed high performing national sales teams for over a decade.
He is passionate about continuing education and raising awareness of additional opportunities that are available in the UK property market.
Jaxon has a good in-depth understanding of various financial solutions, especially in the short term lending space having been dealing with bridging, development, and refurbishment on both residential and commercial assets in recent years.
Jaxon Stevens joins Tuscan Capital as part of a new look sales structure designed to deliver greater broker support and a broader distribution. In his role at Tuscan Capital, Jaxon will lead the sales team covering the whole country, including its regional offices in Manchester and Birmingham as well as London and the Home Counties regions.
Outside of work, Jaxon enjoys coaching his local youth football team for which his son plays, and supporting his daughter in her various dance and drama shows. Jaxon is a fan of trying to play golf, although doesn’t get to play as much as he would like. He also likes a good real ale!
Email: jstevens@tuscancapital.co.uk
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Carl Graham
Regional Director – Manchester Office
Carl has over 17 years’ experience in the specialist mortgage and property finance sectors. Having originally earmarked a career in law, Carl quickly realised his future lay elsewhere, namely the specialist debt market.
Carl joined Advantage Homeloans in 2003, a specialist UK sub-prime mortgage lender, where he held roles both in credit and risk as a roving underwriter and in front-end origination.
In 2008, he moved to Beacon Homeloans as Roving Credit Manager for the North from where, in 2011, he joined Bridgebank Capital as Sales Director. In this pivotal role, he sat on the board and was responsible for setting up the Quantum by Bridgebank Capital brand, which grew the loan book exponentially.
After a 12-month term with Octopus Real Estate, in which he helped build the business plan for the Manchester Office launch, Carl’s final move before joining Tuscan Capital was to Rocket Bridging as Credit Director.
Much as he appreciates the wonderful world of the specialist debt market, Carl enjoys spending time with his supportive family and friends, following the British Touring Car Championship and lending his wholehearted support to his beloved Liverpool Football Club.
Telephone: 07759 648713
Email: cgraham@tuscancapital.co.uk
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Jim Nash
Regional Manager – London Office
An industry veteran of many years’ standing, Jim has experienced first hand all the ups-and-downs of recent financial services history.
As National Sales Manager, he’s responsible for expanding and developing Tuscan’s broker base in regions offering high growth opportunities, with a particular focus on the Home Counties and Midlands.
Moving to Tuscan Capital from West One Loans in 2019 saw him reunited with a number of former colleagues, including Tuscan’s CEO with whom he had previously worked on no fewer than four occasions.
The majority of Jim’s experience has been gained in broker-facing sales roles including time spent with National Mortgage Bank, non-conforming lenders iGroup and Money Partners and bridging provider Omni Capital. He’s brokered a bit too in his time...
A dedicated follower of Spurs, golf and Guinness (other stouts are available), he’s also a keen runner and bike rider with a burning ambition to complete the National 3 Peaks Challenge. Go, Jim, go!Email: jnash@tuscancapital.co.uk
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Amjad Ibn Abdul
Regional Manager – Birmingham Office
Based in Tuscan Capital’s central Birmingham office, Amjad is responsible for developing broker relationships and new business streams emanating from the English Midlands.
Originally hoping to join the West Midlands Constabulary, his planned-for future in law enforcement hit the buffers when he failed to achieve the minimum height requirement. Undeterred, he looked elsewhere for career fulfilment, namely financial services.
His business background straddles both sides of the property lending fence where he has gained valuable experience first as a broker with Finance4Business and latterly with two specialist short-term lending firms, Alternative Bridging Corp. and Proplend Ltd.
Amjad is equally at home preparing credit papers in a timely and thorough fashion or serving as the client relationship manager (and first point of contact) for Midlands-based introducers and advisers.With a family home and deep roots in Birmingham, he knows the region intimately and is well-connected with the local real estate and developer community.
Amjad has a young family that takes up most of his spare time. But in the free moments he gets to enjoy, the ‘Red Devils’ of Old Trafford receive his unstinting support and attention.Email: aabdul@tuscancapital.co.uk
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Andy Reeder
Client Services Manager
As Client Services Manager, Andy takes point position for speaking with introducers about potential deals, structuring new business applications and building and maintaining our all-important key relationships with brokers, advisers, valuers, solicitors and real estate investors.
In a career that has embraced similar roles, Andy was previously a pivotal part of the Client Services team at Fortwell Capital and, before that, Omni Capital Partners. He also gained valuable field experience as a Business Development Manager with the specialist mortgage lender Money Partners.
Like Colin and Ed, Andy gets his sporting kicks out of a day on the golf links and a bit of footie - particularly when it involves his team of choice, Chelsea FC. But he’s partial, too, to dining out and overseas travel.
Email: areeder@tuscancapital.co.uk
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John Craig
Client Services Manager
Re-united with Andy Reeder, his former running-mate at Omni Capital / Fortwell Capital, John is on hand to lend his considerable experience to help guide our brokers and advisers through every step of the application process.
In a career (thus far) spanning two decades, John has earned his financial services ‘stripes’ in a range of roles that have included underwriting (iGroup, GE Capital), sales (Money Partners, Omni Capital, Fortwell Capital) and broking (Specialist Financial Services Ltd).
Ever the grafter, he took advantage of that little post-2008 ‘lapse’ to set-up and run his own courier service and business.
Now back where he really likes to be, John mixes family time with his support for ‘The Gunners’ and occasional snowboarding excursions. But his real outdoor passion is reserved for the golf course, where, as often as possible, he likes to teach CEO Colin Sanders a good lesson (!!).
Email: jcraig@tuscancapital.co.uk
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Stephen Palfreeman
Associate Director - London
After graduating from the University of Nottingham with a degree in Business, Steve joined Omni Capital in September 2013 where he gained experience in residential bridging finance.
Once Omni Capital rebranded to Fortwell Capital in 2016, he assumed responsibility for assisting the originations team and performing underwriting due diligence for development finance transactions.
He worked for Fortwell under parent companies CPC Group and Cain International.
In his role as Associate Director, Stephen is focused on origination and expanding the company’s distribution across the introducers market in the London region.
Away from the office, Steve is a big fan of Chelsea FC and enjoys skiing when time and opportunity permits. -
Dena Thompson
Head of Credit & Risk
Reporting to CEO Colin Sanders, Dena has overall responsibility for the swift underwriting and efficient credit management of our bridging loans - from their origination through to final redemption.
She has more than 18 years’ lending experience across a range of funding institutions but has concentrated her expertise in the bridging sector for the last 11 of these.
Before joining Tuscan Capital, Dena was director of credit at real estate development lender Urban Exposure. Prior to this, she held senior underwriting and credit positions at Alternative Bridging Corporation and Fortwell Capital.
When not having fun hosting family and friends at home, or cheering on her young children in their various frenetic activities, Dena likes to kick back with a large G&T in the company of a good film or book. Nice.
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Jade Arnold-Brown
Underwriting Manager
With over a decade’s experience in property-focused financial services - the last four of which have been in bridging - Jade brings to Tuscan Capital a keen eye for detail and a willing aptitude to work with our broker partners to ensure a smooth passage for their clients’ deals.
Previously with short-term lender Alternative Bridging Corporation, she has successfully passed CeMap 1 and is currently studying hard to complete parts 2 and 3 in the near future.
When not buried in her text books Jade likes to travel, watch movies and spend time with friends and family. To her great credit, she is also an active fund-raising volunteer for charities and orphanages - both in the U.K. and overseas.
Jade’s keen to learn a second language too. But having recently become a mother of a “cheeky little bubba”, recognises she’ll first need to master the art of Baby-Speak.
Good luck with that one, mum. -
Carmen Albert
Senior Underwriter
Carmen has over 18 years of experience in financial services, having worked for high street banks in Spain such as Bankinter and Banco de Valencia, as well as due-diligence providers in the UK. This has allowed Carmen to obtain a broad exposure to different lending practices and products in the UK, mainland Europe and Central America.
Before joining Tuscan Capital as a Senior Underwriter, Carmen worked at Fiduciam and Clayton Euro Risk.
In her current role at Tuscan, Carmen is responsible for the risk assessment of the incoming applications, ensuring a smooth underwriting and completion process.
When not delving into spreadsheets and legal documents, you will probably find her enjoying music gigs.
Email: calbert@tuscancapital.co.uk
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Ellis Cluff
Marketing Executive
After studying at university, during which time she also worked to help pay the bills and fees, Ellis graduated with a BA (Hons) Business Studies Degree. Soon after, she joined multi-national conglomerate, GE Healthcare, where she was employed in the Medical Devices division.
Seeking a fresh challenge, Ellis made the move into financial services in early 2020 - just in time, in fact, to be welcomed by the decidedly unwelcome arrival of SARS-Cov-2, or Covid-19 to you and I.
Joining specialist lender ABC as marketing executive, Ellis was undaunted by the prospect of “WFH”. Tasked, amongst other things, with extending the reach of ABC’s social media programme, she notched up considerable success in a short space of time - an achievement she now aims to emulate at Tuscan Capital.
Outside the world of marketing, Ellis enjoys horse riding, spending time with her family and volunteering for a local charity fostering orphaned kittens. To date, she has personally fostered more than 200 young rescue animals. Now that’s the cat’s whiskers!
Email: ecluff@tuscancapital.co.uk
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Jade Lidiard
Underwriter
After graduating from the University of Portsmouth with a first-class degree in Psychology, Jade joined MT Finance in December 2016, starting in new business, and working her way up to the position of Underwriter.
Jade joined UTB in June 2021, working for just over a year as an Underwriter/Relationship Manager in structured finance. Missing the fast-paced nature of bridging finance, Jade joined Tuscan Capital in November 2022 as an Underwriter.
In her role as Underwriter, Jade is responsible for reviewing the applications and gaining credit approval. She then liaises with the solicitors and brokers in order to facilitate a swift completion.
Away from the office, Jade loves travelling to new countries where she can try new restaurants and cocktail bars and enjoys an annual skiing trip. She also likes reading crime/mystery books.
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Joseph Pao
Analyst
After following the Palfreeman route and studying for a degree in Management at the University of Nottingham, Joe joined the team at Tuscan Capital as a graduate.
Quickly immersing himself in the world of bridging, he now works as a part of Tuscan’s client services team, looking after the packaging of deals. Working as an analyst out of our London HQ, Joe juggles the handling of internal data with the management of new business enquiries.
Away from the office, you’ll find Joe following his beloved Chelsea home and away, enjoying himself on the tennis court or labouring around the five a side pitches of West London.
At our core
Integrity. Flexibility. Understanding. That’s what we believe you want. And that’s why we’ve put them at the very heart of the Tuscan Capital offering:
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Integrity
We’re uncompromising in applying the highest standards of behaviour in everything we do.
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Flexibility
We think both inside and outside the box to provide you and your clients with the best options.
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Understanding
We understand real estate finance and how important it is to deliver on our word - each and every time.