Savills moves into CI by buying Goldridge

MORTGAGE broker Goldridge de Beauvoir has been bought by one of the UK's biggest independent lenders. From today it will be known as Savills Private Finance (Channel Islands) Ltd and will be wholly owned by the UK mortgage broker of that name.

Pierre Blampied, a director of the new company, believes the purchase can have only positive effects on the Guernsey market.

'We are the only office on the island that can offer every single mortgage deal available in Guernsey, as well as holding exclusive lending rights to some of these products,' he said.

'Savills carries a lot of weight in the industry and has an extremely strong relationship with a number of lenders.

'They have been looking to establish a presence in the Channel Islands for over a year now and we feel privileged that they identified us as the market leader in the Channel Islands in terms of mortgage broking.'

Mr Blampied said that the company would continue to use already-established relationships with lenders in the island and at the same time welcomed the advantages of being owned by a major UK firm.

'We are now part of a FTSE 250 company. We can benefit from a number of resources, such as using in-house specialists to advise in relation to overseas properties - Bulgaria, Spain, and the UK, for example.

'Savills also has a reputation of being very compliant in the UK in terms of mortgage broking,' he said.

'In Guernsey, mortgage broking is not regulated, but we intend to utilise the UK guidelines as a benchmark and make ourselves more compliant than any other lender in the Channel Islands.'

Mr Blampied confirmed that there would not be any redundancies as a result of the takeover and that the company was aiming to open a branch in Jersey in the near future.

'The Jersey market is significantly behind Guernsey as there are fewer lenders and the mortgage brokers are not as advanced as we are here,' he said. 'We are looking to introduce the Savills brand and our relationships we have already established over here.'

Savills Private Finance employs 200 staff in 21 offices in the UK and placed between £3-£3.5bn in lending last year. It forms part of the Savills Group, the international property consultants.

The board of Savills Private Finance (Channel Islands) Ltd will comprise Mr Blampied, managing director David Merrien, and chairman Simon Dice.

The primary business of the company will continue to be in mortgages, pension planning, and investments and Mr Blampied forecast a positive outlook.

'We've had a record quarter this year. We are very positive about the future and once we've covered both islands, we will be even stronger,' said he said.

Mr Dice, who is also on the board of Savills Private Finance, said he was delighted that the company had a presence in the Channel Islands.

'We potentially see the Channel Islands as quite a large area of business for us. Goldridge de Beauvoir was the obvious choice because of its leading market position and the strong relationships it enjoys with lenders and clients alike,' he said.

Mr Dice said the company intended to announce the introduction of a new lender to the island in the next few weeks.

Mr Merrien was also upbeat for the future.

'We welcome the takeover as it will enable us to increase our market share in both residential mortgages and commercial lending in Guernsey,' he said.