The Five Minute Interview with Rory Duff, Finance Director, Signature Private Finance

By Tony Sanchez 14th November 2013

Signature Private Finance recently launched with backing from internationally recognised firm Cabot Square.

Signature is a well-funded principal lender offering market leading rates. A flat management structure facilitates quick decisions and certainty of delivery.

We speak to finance director Rory Duff:

What is the best thing about being in the bridging finance business?

Lending customers the money they need to enable them to realise their projects and ambitions.

What keeps you focussed?

Customer requirements which create deadlines. A protestant mother and a catholic father ensure I’ve got both the work ethic and the guilt!

What qualities do you look for in your employees or colleagues?

Warren Buffett said it best, I just want to work with people who I like, trust and admire.

Are you an optimist or a pessimist?

I can be an optimist and a pessimist, but it takes more effort for me to be optimistic.

What did you want to be as a child?

Firstly I wanted to drive a combine harvester, then fly fighter jets in the RAF. That’s what happens when you grow up near an airbase in Lincolnshire.

What will be the greatest challenge facing the bridging finance industry in the coming months

I think the prospects for the bridging and development finance industry are strong.

As with any industry competition will provide its own challenges. At Signature we’re going to focus on certainty and speed of delivery.

Who or what makes you laugh?

My 21 month old daughter who has learnt to say ‘iPad’ before learning ‘thank you’! My favourite joke is an old Bob Monkhouse one liner: “I told my parents I was going to be a comedian and they just laughed…Well they’re not laughing now!”

Do you dread Monday mornings?

No, the only thing that frustrates me is if I can’t get enough done.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

To be more giving.

With whom would you most like to have dinner?

Assuming, like desert island discs, that dinner with the wife is a gimme, I think I would like to say Bertrand Russell. But I’ve always had a soft spot for Uma Thurman.