Specialist lender Together appoints corporate relationship director in the North

A property finance expert has joined specialist lender Together as its corporate relationship director covering the North of England.

Alex Garland, who has worked in commercial real estate finance for nearly 20 years, will be responsible for nurturing existing relationships and widening the specialist lender’s network of corporate clients and advisers as it grows its presence across the UK.

A former senior director at Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banking Group (CYBG), Alex will operate regionally, covering Manchester, Leeds and the North East.

He is the latest addition to Together’s growing corporate relationship team, which was set up to provide customers ranging from large businesses to individual investors with finance of more than £1million.
Alex, who lives in Manchester, is returning to the company where he started his career as a commercial underwriter 17 years ago.

He said: “It’s great to be back. I’ve been working in mainstream banking for a long time now and that market has changed significantly over the last decade. I’m ready for a new challenge and, having started off in specialist lending, I’ve come full circle. Over the years, I’ve always kept an eye on Together’s amazing growth and its ambitions for the future. It’s fantastic to be part of the team again.”

Alex has spent his career in the commercial and corporate real estate sectors, lending on deals of between £25,000 and £200m.

He joins from CYBG, where he had been a senior director for its national real estate finance team. Previously, he was a senior manager for Anglo Irish Bank, based first in Manchester, then in London.
In his new role, Alex will report to Andrew Charnley, who joined Together from Lloyds in November as its head of corporate relationships. Just last month the specialist lender announced the appointment of Alex Bodie, corporate development director for the North West. Together has also hired Sonia Mann in the Midlands and Andrew Fouli in London and the South East.

Andrew Charnley said: “We’re delighted to welcome Alex as the latest recruit to our highly-successful and growing business. He will team up again with our commercial CEO, Marc Goldberg, and offer his vast expertise in commercial and corporate lending as we continue our expansion.”

In its latest quarterly results Together, which now employs more than 750 staff, revealed its loan book had increased to £3.47bn in May from £2.78bn the previous year.