Tier One Capital secures £8.5m boost for growing North East investment fund

Wealth management firm Tier One Capital has secured an extra £8.5m for one of the North East’s most important investment funds.

Shawbrook Bank will provide the seven-figure revolving credit facility to the TOC Property Backed Lending Trust PLC (PBLT), which supports property- and land-backed projects ranging from residential housing and retail to leisure and commercial schemes.

The funding will enable PBLT to fulfil demand from projects predominantly in the North East.

Tier One Capital launched the fund at the start of 2017 and, as its appointed investment advisor, has already identified a pipeline of potential loans through its network in the region.

Ian McElroy, chief exec of Tier One Capital, said: “The ongoing success of TOC Property Backed Lending Trust PLC reflects a growing confidence in this region and a real willingness to invest in its future.

“Over £50m has been raised and deployed over the last two years through our direct lending proposition, with borrowing teams benefiting from a common sense credit approach, and investors achieving attractive annual returns on their capital.”

He continued: “Those people and businesses who are dedicated to developing property in the North East have access to this considerable and growing fund, which is specifically designed to encourage further regional prosperity.”

Fund manager Brendan O’Grady commented: “The North East is seen as a real area of growth by investors from around the UK. This is reflected by significant additional funds now available to PBLT. and is quite a turn-around from the bleak economic situation a decade or so ago.

“There is an appetite for an alternative form of investment and the TOC Property Backed Lending Trust PLC enables both institutional and regional investors to invest in a way that delivers a strong return while making a positive difference to the future of the North East.”