I caught up with Stephen just a few weeks after the Property Investor Show at London's Excel centre where Shawbrook had once again been an exhibitor. They are one of the relatively few lenders that regularly exhibit at public events and I asked Stephen why this was the case when almost all the other main lenders only exhibit at mortgage and finance trade events.

"Our lending business comes via our mortgage broker (intermediary) network, but we have found the Property Investor Shows at Excel, which are well attended, to be very useful in the last two years, as it enables us to meet up with prospective and existing customers face to face. We get the direct feedback on what we are offering to customers and more importantly what they think they need, so that we can then help them to grow their property business."  

Thankfully the UK economy and demand in all regional housing markets is growing once again so I asked Stephen just what had been Shawbrook's experience since early-2013.