Article written in partnership with Shawbrook.

Bridging finance sells itself on speed. Deals are expected to close within days, not months, and that pace facilitates the billions of pounds bridged in the UK annually.

This said, speed without governance is just risk masquerading as service; our aim is speed with governance when it comes to VAT bridging.

As a commercial property VAT bridging lender, the numbers are unforgiving in our corner of the market. With VAT at 20 per cent of the property’s sales price, there is tremendous potential for a significant short-term cash flow problem that gets in the way of the real estate job at hand – be that an acquisition and/or development work.

Critical to BloomSmith dependably delivering this funding is a clear, consistent, well-governed underwriting policy which insists on applying the same checks to every case.

“We understand brokers want dependability from their lenders,” says Dave White Director of BloomSmith’s who also heads the company’s governance processes.

“They want to know that whatever happens on this deal, our process acknowledges HMRC’s protocols and sensitivities, and that the same thing will happen in the same way for their next client.

“It lets them work with assurance and allows everyone to build strong, lasting relationships.”

That consistency is the whole point of governance from a lender-broker perspective. It isn’t just a compliance function bolted onto the lending process, it’s central to delivering a lending process trustworthy enough to sell.

A broker doesn’t need to understand a lender’s credit policy in detail. They need to know it exists, that it’s applied consistently, and that they can present a deal that will be sanctioned and executed quickly and professionally. Nobody’s quietly bending it under pressure; that’s why BloomSmith’s external audit affirms that consistency, every quarter.

These values are also at the heart of the commercial relationships we foster. Our partner, Shawbrook shares our commitment to strong governance, recognising that clear standards and consistent decision making create trusted partnerships and long-term value for clients and stakeholders.

Good governance removes guesswork from decisions that shouldn’t involve any,” says Matthew Newman, Director of Speciality and Fund Finance at Shawbrook. “It provides a consistent framework for making well-informed lending decisions, giving confidence to everyone involved in a transaction. That certainty benefits our teams, our partners and, most importantly, the borrower, helping transactions progress efficiently and with confidence.”

While bridging is shaped by the need for speedy processes, this must not come at the expense of good governance. This simple principle defines every BloomSmith VAT bridging loan, enabling us to provide dependable funding time after time.