Phil Mabb | Bridge Development

Property loans in the time of Covid have been odd things. Both everywhere in the form of government-backed business lending, and at times nowhere, if you were trying to get a high LTV residential mortgage, for example. Schrodinger’s loans. Navigating this market has, even for experienced professionals, required a great deal of skill to adapt and advise on completely new products under the coronavirus business lending scheme. But Phil Mabb saw an opportunity to provide certainty in a chaotic world. He invested in a paid marketing campaign for CBILS loans that proved very good at generating leads, boosting his own business while helping others in need.

Having successfully generated the business, he came through for his clients, and those referred to him by others. “During the difficulties of Covid, Phil has been receptive to all my client’s needs in relation to the CBILS property product from the British Business Bank,” says one satisfied business customer, “I had not heard of this product and neither had the 14 clients I have referred to Phil, yet he was available late evenings and weekends to talk my clients through their eligibility and understanding of a brand new product at a stressful time for most property entrepreneurs”.

The reason Phil is so popular is he takes the time to make solid recommendations and be available to answer any questions, in an important book-ended process that has allowed some clients to receive CBILS offers for refinancing property loans, and who have then proceeded to enquire on new loans, testament to the relationship advice Phil provides. All the while, according to his clients, Phil has kept his fees fair and appropriate, and puts TCF front and centre on all cases, without exception. (Asked what his biggest challenge is in the industry, he replies, “TCF please”).

After six years of trading positive year on year growth as a sole trader, Phil’s words of wisdom to the next generation of brokers are worth hearing. “Come with both your eyes and ears wide open”, is his key message. In a fast-paced and ever changing industry like bridging it is a good, if often forgotten point, much like the need to pay your dues and absorb the wisdom of others. “Our industry won’t leave you bored and the income can be substantial, but expect to tread the boards as you learn the trade and build your client bank, without which you have no business,” he says.

Like so many of BLD’s Diamonds, however, Phil’s care and attention towards the needs of others stretches far beyond the boundaries of the day job. Covid stretched us all in new and often not altogether pleasant ways, from the pressure of being stuck at home, to the fear of our loved ones getting ill, or having to manage on less income. But in every there are the helpers, and Phil was one, supporting local communities in West London with his volunteering work.

Starting during lockdown 1, Phil has been delivering PPE for BikeShed, which has been providing free courier-style services to support the fight against Covid-19, including one regular weekly trip from his home in south west London to Chelmsford to take back to a Church in Putney for distribution to local hospital in Brompton. He has done many such trips, long and short, crucially filling the gap in those frantic early days when all hell had broken loose but before PPE production caught up and demand fell. More recently BikeShed collaborated with the Royal Free Hospital to distribute Oximeters to doctor referred Covid-19 patients who had to rely on volunteer deliveries.  By all accounts Phil has done more than 100 drops as part of this project, including a lot of time spent delivering to what emerged as the hotspots across London, risking his own health and likelihood of catching the virus, day and evenings during all weathers.