‘Keeping my brokers satisfied and delivering on my promises is key for me’

In our latest five minute interview, Tony Sanchez speaks to Magnus Duke Dadzie, Relationship Director – London and South at Black & White Bridging.

Magnus has been in financial services for over 3 decades and began his career at Countrywide Mortgage Services where he learnt his trade as a mortgage adviser and consultant before moving on to the mortgage packaging side of things.

It’s there that he came across various types of property finance before moving onto the other side of the fence as a BDM for a lender and hasn’t looked back since.      

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

Bridging for me has been an eye opener in terms of providing opportunities to many people with creative visions to turn derelict or previously uninhabitable properties into dream homes for themselves or for onward sales.

Property development with all the intricacies from ground-up builds to complete refurbishment projects has always fascinated me, and being at the forefront of the lending business to support all of these property professionals brings a big smile to my face knowing that I played a small role in making the magic happen.

What keeps you focused?

I love what I do and haven’t got the foggiest idea as to when I will ever retire from this industry although I attempted to do so a few years ago and got bored very quickly.

More importantly, keeping my brokers satisfied and delivering on my promises is key for me to stay focused.

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

Better qualities than I have so I can learn from them and improve on my everyday skills.

Nothing beats working with successful work colleagues who also bring lots of fun and laughter to the table… a good laugh always saves the day as sometimes things may not go as smoothly as we anticipated.

As the adage goes: “two heads are better than one”, therefore for me, it is important to come together and work as a team to fulfil all our ambitions together.

Luckily, we have a great team at Black & White, full of hard workers who also work with a smile on their faces.

Are you an optimist or a pessimist?

Ever the optimist with a bit of caution I dare say…always looking on the bright side of life.

I always try to find the right solution for each enquiry that comes through to me and even if I cannot assist the broker/borrower directly, I always know someone else who can and will always point them in the right direction.

After all Black & White Bridging cannot be the be-all and end-all to EVERY enquiry that we receive (even though we try to be!).

What did you want to be as a child?

A pilot…although I am not sure how most people would have arrived at their destinations with me being at the helm as my sense of direction is so poor!

I even struggle trying to locate where I last parked my car when I go shopping as I am constantly being reminded and directed by the boss at home.

I just loved the flamboyance and admiration that people show to pilots when they see them passing by at the airports.

Strangely enough, a few of the team members at Black & White have also said they wanted to be pilots too, so make of that what you will!

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

For bridging I strongly believe the industry will be stable from an origination point of view, although exit strategies for BTL properties will pose a major challenge due to ICR calculations being so tight.

That said, as we see lenders further reduce pricing, I think the industry will be fine.

I am currently seeing a lot of re-bridging enquiries coming through and that is a bit worrying.

At Black & White Bridging we try to create real-time solutions for intermediaries, which is why we have just launched a re-bridge product as well as enhancing our resi and sales period bridges – all of which are aiming to support brokers through the current issues they are experiencing.

Who or what makes you laugh?

I love office banter and find people who say the wrong things at the wrong times very hilarious, one person in our team immediately springs to mind.

In terms of who makes me laugh, that will have to be Sacha Baron Cohen aka Ali G… which refers to my earlier point about saying the wrong things at the wrong times with a bit of sarcasm in his lines.

We all need some form of educating in different ways, however I think political correctness ruins some of the comedic aspects of life, some people take themselves too seriously (my POV) and complain about everything.

Do you dread Monday mornings?

Only after a heavy Sunday the night before, other than that I am always eager to go again.

Not sure if I am alone on this but generally my Monday mornings tend to blend into my Sunday “me time” no matter how much I try to switch off… perhaps this is because I love what I do and look forward to a great start to the week ahead, always!

The way our weeks are structured helps to set us up for a positive week too.

We have a talented team here so when we get our heads together for our weekly sales call, it’s nice and upbeat and we start the week on the front foot.

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

To have more patience in life in general.

I follow my instincts a bit too much and will have to learn to hold back a bit and listen to my wife a lot more (I hear you say “so you don’t?”), hopefully, she will read this article!

With whom would you most like to have dinner?

This may sound boring, but I am proud to say that it will be with my wife as she had radiotherapy treatment around her throat area just over 9 months ago which ruined her taste buds and she is slowly recovering (95% there).

I cannot wait to see the look on her face when I take her out to her favourite Burger & Lobster restaurant upon regaining full recovery of her taste buds.

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