The new office is needed to support the rapid growth of the Bank’s commercial property portfolio and the expanding Commercial Property Finance team, which now consists of eleven frontline staff; after last month’s recruitment of two experienced commercial property experts who were formally with Nationwide Building Society.
Despite market nervousness in 2016, commercial property financing was the fastest growing element of Al Rayan Bank’s real estate asset book, increasing by 44% to £396.5m. Increasing its footprint in all sectors of the commercial property finance market is a strategic priority for the Bank over the coming years.
Maisam Faisal, Head of Commercial Property Finance, Al Rayan Bank, said:
“Customers chose commercial property finance from Al Rayan Bank for many reasons. For some, it is the fact that we are an Islamic bank and only offer Sharia compliant financing; for others it is our commercial approach and our highly experienced staff who can help structure transactions to suit clients’ requirements.
An example of one such client is Investra Investments Ltd, a private equity real estate investor and asset manager with offices in London and Dubai. The principals have transacted cumulatively in excess of £1 billion in real estate deals, investing in the UK and USA commercial real estate sectors. Investra maintains commercial and operational accounts with Al Rayan Bank, and utilises financing for real estate acquisition.
Zaid Randeree, CEO, Investra Investments Ltd said:
“Al Rayan Bank has made it simpler for us to do business in the UK and the location of the new office is going to make it even easier. For some of our clients, Sharia compliant finance is an absolute necessity. Prior to working with Al Rayan Bank, we had to make use of conventional banks in the UK, and then subsequently apply structures to ensure that the funding was permissible. Now this is no longer an issue and we can focus our efforts on continuing to providing great service to our clients.”
