Gary Wilkinson, CEO and co-founder of Redwood Bank, reflected on a successful year as he hailed the ‘strong relationships’ built with its intermediary network.

In his speech at Redwood’s Broker Awards, he said: “This evening is a highlight of the Redwood Bank calendar, giving us the chance to recognise the amazing work you all do. We are proud of the strong relationships we have within our broker network, and it is a privilege to be able to recognise some individual achievements.

“We have started 2024 on a high and we are looking forward to further increasing our loan volumes and be even more successful this year. And you all have a big part to play in this. A large part of our lending success last year was because we listened to you, our partners. 

“We will never stop listening to you.”

Real Property Finance, from Sheffield, took away the new Lifetime Achievement award with Nantwich-based Watts Commercial Finance doing the double, picking up Commercial Broker of the Year for the second successive time, and the overall Broker of the Year.

Alan Laslett, director of Real Property Finance said: “Thank you to Redwood Bank for the award, and for supporting our clients with tailored mortgage facilities to support the growth of their businesses. We have enjoyed working with Redwood and their team who have become a trusted partner in providing funding solutions since they launched in 2017.” 

The full list of winners was:

Largest Deal – Funding Friends
Quickest Deal – GPS Financial
Most Complex Deal – White Rose Finance Group
The Credit Award – BH Financial Services
Best Newcomer – City Finance Brokers
Commercial Broker of the Year – Watts Commercial Finance
Residential Broker of the Year – Funding Friends
Broker of the Year – Watts Commercial Finance
Lifetime Achievement – Real Property Finance

Darren Byrne, regional director of Watts Commercial Finance, said: “Winning both the Commercial Broker of the Year and the overall Broker of the Year awards at the Redwood Bank awards is a tremendous honour for Watts Commercial Finance. It is a testament to the dedication of our team and the strong partnership we've built with Redwood Bank over the past seven years.”

The awards evening at the Village Hotel, Solihull, was preceded by a panel session when brokers had the opportunity to put questions to Gary and other members of his leadership team.

Redwood started hosting these annual awards in 2020, as a thank you to and to recognise the contributions and successes of the brokers it has worked with over the previous 12 months.   

Founded in 2017, Redwood Bank was launched to offer secured SME lending products to owner-occupied businesses, as well as to experienced commercial and residential property investors.  

Towards the end of last year, it was announced that Redwood Bank’s parent company, Redwood Financial Partners Ltd (RFPL), had signed Heads of Terms for the reverse takeover of R8 Capital Investments plc (R8), a company listed on the London Stock Exchange, in 2024.