The Five Minute Interview with Nick Jones, Commercial Director, Roma Finance

By Tony Sanchez 28th August 2020

Roma Finance provides property professionals and landlords with bridging loans, development finance and buy-to-let mortgages.

They offer first and second charge loans from £50k to £5m and have operated successfully in the buoyant UK bridging finance market for over ten years.

Providing finance for property projects such as renovations, change of use, property auction purchases and ground-up developments on residential investment, commercial and industrial properties throughout England, Scotland and Wales.

We speak to commercial director, Nick Jones:

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

There are so many things which make this marketplace a great industry. The variety of activity ensures there’s never a dull day however the best single thing is the people.

The intermediaries you work with, your work colleagues alongside you and of course the customers you work for.

It is such an exciting vibrant industry from the moment you get up to the moment you switch off, especially at this time when it is evolving so rapidly.

What keeps you focused?

My family, which is very busy, goes a long way to keeping me focused. At the end of the day it’s what everything is about.

I am however very self-disciplined, have a strong desire to succeed and there is no room for letting people down no matter who they are.

I always start the day reviewing who I need to get back to and ensure a call is always returned.

Fulfilled promises make the world, so I say; do what you say you are going to do.

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

Culture is one of if not the most important factors to any business. You could have the best strategy implemented but if you don’t have the culture to execute it then it will fail.

Having a team where they can embrace values and show integrity in their actions and behaviours will always have an opportunity working with me.

Are you an optimist or a pessimist?

I am definitely an optimist and I have an optimistic team around me. Collectively, we look for the opportunities and how we can grow and support our partners at the same time.

I truly think this is a very exciting time in the specialist market.

What did you want to be as a child?

A primary school teacher always appealed to me, following in both my mother and father’s footsteps however golf was always a huge part of my childhood and my first passion, I always wanted to travel the world and play on tour.

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

The industry has always been in a state of evolution, but the pace of change in the current climate is rapid.

There will be a lot of people and businesses that can’t adapt and sadly there will be casualties from this.

As there are still only a proportion of lenders actively in the market there is an issue of supply and demand.

This in turn with the government making significant relaxations to planning and the country entering recession, could certainly give mixed forecasts.

There will be opportunities in the bridging and development industry and I believe a major challenge will be for businesses an investors to remain agile and ready to move with unprecedented change.

Who or what makes you laugh?

The smallest and silliest of things make me laugh, my children are always a great source of laughter.

I’m a huge fan of stand-up comedy, comedians such as Ricky Gervais, Kevin Bridges, Eddie Izzard, Amy Schumer the list goes on and on.

Do you dread Monday mornings?

Never, every morning is a gift, an opportunity to get up and achieve something.

When you do something you love you can’t wait for it to start and if you don’t look forward to it, try something new, life is too short to not look forward to work.

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

I think apart from the obvious, eat healthier, exercise more often, it would have to be more patience.

I’m always thinking how can we get this done quicker and how can we deliver sooner……. sometimes things have to take their course, but I’ll keep trying!