Meet the team

Our experienced team of Commercial Lending experts are on hand to help whenever you have a question or need more information. You can find out a bit more about our team members below.

For Investment Finance enquiries please email: [email protected]

For Development Finance enquiries please email: [email protected]

Stuart Benge

Senior Business Development Manager, Investment Finance

Stuart joined Hodge in May 2022 and brings over 20 years’ experience as a National Commercial Sales Manager at YBS Commercial (formerly N&P Commercial). Stuart has also spent time with Assetz Capital as a Relationship Director, and most recently as a Business Development Manager at Recognise Bank.

At Hodge Stuart is focused on supporting customers in the residential and commercial investment space to help them achieve their property investment goals.

Andy Buss

Senior Business Development Manager, Investment Finance

Andy joined Hodge in July 2022 and brings a wealth of banking and commercial experience having spent 17 years at NatWest in a variety of relationship management roles, followed by business development and relationship management roles at Cambridge & Counties Bank.

Andy’s role at Hodge involves building positive relationships with brokers and introducers in the residential and commercial investment space and supporting customers with their portfolio growth plans.

David Hales

Senior Development Finance Manager

David joined Hodge as Senior Development Finance Manager in June 2022 and is responsible for promoting the Hodge property development proposition, supporting customers throughout their journey with Hodge and managing the due diligence process alongside the credit function.

David brings over 25 years’ experience within financial services across both the corporate and commercial sectors, with previous roles held at Assetz Capital, Bank of Scotland, Lloyds, HBOS and Metro Bank.

Kevin Beevers

Managing Director – Commercial Lending

Kevin has been the Managing Director, Commercial Lending at Hodge Bank since September 2013. Kevin joined following a 24-year career at HSBC, during the course of which he gained UK-wide experience and led successful teams in a broad range of areas including large corporate banking, leveraged acquisition finance, commercial business development and working capital provision, as well as experience in the credit & risk function.

Since joining Hodge Kevin has guided the department through a series of increasingly profitable years and overseen material growth of the lending team, business and portfolio.

While Kevin’s role is primarily strategic and leadership focussed, client relationships and new business remain a key focus. Kevin works closely with the senior team at the inception of new relationships; as a key decision-maker in the credit approval process, his hands-on approach helps to ensure that new customers get the very best service.

Andy Button

Head of Commercial Products & Projects

Recruited from HSBC in 2014, Andy is an accomplished property banker with over 30 years’ experience in the field. In his time with Hodge he has introduced many high-profile property professionals and has an excellent track record for negotiating long-running relationships with clients.

As Head of Investment Finance, Andy’s remit centres around the provision of funding products that allow property owners to secure long-term investment against income-producing real estate assets.

On top of this Andy has also negotiated several renewable energy deals for wind turbines in Scotland and has completed a number of development projects with prolific city-specific developers Urban Creation.

Paul Green

Head of Commercial Credit

Paul is our Head of Commercial Credit, and is primarily responsible for overseeing and managing credit risk in our Commercial lending team.

With a career in Financial Services spanning 25 years, Paul has been with Hodge for over 20 of them, making him one of our longest serving colleagues. During that time, he’s held a variety of roles with us – predominantly in business development and credit risk – and specialises in real estate. Before joining Hodge in 2001, Paul worked at Chartered Trust.

Gareth Davies

Head of Business Development – Commercial Lending

Gareth joined Hodge Bank from the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) in January 2015 after nine years in corporate finance and real estate finance roles. As a senior director in corporate real estate finance for the south of England and South Wales, he managed a £900 million property portfolio.

 

During his time as a relationship manager, he oversaw multiple development and investment deals across the country, including significant portfolios in Bath and Bristol as well as introducing developments in London, Birmingham, Cardiff and Newcastle.  Since then, Gareth became head of development finance and is now head of business development for Commercial Lending at Hodge.

A qualified accountant and Fellow member of Chartered Certified Accountants, Gareth spent his early career in audit and corporate finance roles with Grant Thornton and Baker Tilly in London, before joining RBS in 2007 and subsequently Hodge in 2015.

Paul Lobl

Head of Portfolio

Paul is our Head of Portfolio. He joined Hodge in January 2018, bringing with him a wealth of banking and real estate finance experience, gained during a 30+ year career in banking.

As Head of Portfolio, Paul manages our Portfolio team. He guides the team to provide a fast, efficient, and professional service – managing client relationships and needs, as well as dealing with the day to day administration of their facilities.

Prior to joining Hodge, Paul worked at Bank of Ireland for 12 years in the specialist Bristol & West Property Finance team, a department which he managed for  5 years. In this role, Paul was responsible for managing a £1bn+ real estate investment portfolio. Prior to that he spent 4 years with Bank of Scotland and 19 years with Barclays in a variety of roles.

Jon Hankins

Senior Relationship Manager

Jon joined the Portfolio Management team at Hodge in July 2022 and is responsible for managing a portfolio of commercial customers with development and investment finance requirements.

Jon brings a wealth of portfolio management experience having spent 17 years at Barclays in numerous client management roles, followed by 10 years at Bank of Ireland managing a portfolio of distressed assets. Jon also spent over three years at Homes England managing a portfolio of property development clients, building out a number of landmark schemes in the South West of England.

Sian Phillips

Direct Investments Manager

Siân has worked at Hodge since May 1999.  She joined following 16-year career at The Co-operative Bank, where she gained extensive experience and knowledge in all areas of Banking and specialised in Commercial Real Estate Securities.

Since joining Hodge, Siân has worked within Credit Risk and managed the Commercial Real Estate Securities team. In 2010, Sian took up the role of Direct Investments Manager, where she manages a portfolio of properties owned or substantially controlled by the Hodge Group.  In addition, Siân works with the Head of Credit and assists with the monitoring and approving of the Commercial Lending due diligence processes.

Teresa Phillips

Operations Manager

Teresa joined Hodge in early 2012, moving to the Commercial Lending business in 2014. With over 20 years management experience across a range of blue-chip financial services organisations, Teresa’s role as Operations Manager draws on her expertise in delivering first class client service across every client relationship.

In managing the Support Team she is responsible for ensuring all administrative aspects of client relationships are executed swiftly and accurately. She is also responsible for the regulatory management of the Commercial Lending business, and works closely with the rest of the Senior Team in providing the bespoke, discreet client led approach Hodge Bank is known for.

Steve Blake

Credit Quality Manager

Steve’s role as Credit Quality Manager at Hodge Bank draws on his specialist experience in the real estate banking sector to ensure that new lending relationships are thoroughly evaluated in-house.

Following roles with NatWest and Bank of Scotland, Steve worked a s a senior corporate banking manager with HSBC prior to joining Hodge. Steve has a wealth of experience to draw on and provides a supportive sounding board to the Relationship Management team for new and existing cases alike. He has significant experience of larger corporate and institutional clients as well as sole traders and entrepreneurs.

Alongside his credit risk remit Steve also fulfils key responsibilities to ensure that the department meets regulatory reporting and operational requirements.

Bryn Adams

Relationship Manager

Hayley Frost

Relationship Support Manager

Jayne Edwards

Relationship Support Manager

Laura-Jane James

Commercial Lending Officer

Louise Bronson

Relationship Manager

Nia Thomas

Commercial Lending Officer

Rachel Preston

Relationship Officer

Rhos Evans

Credit Manager