The newly created role will see Nick take responsibility for the origination and delivery of development lending across the residential spectrum.

He will also focus on originating opportunities for care homes and retirement communities, two of Octopus’ core specialisms.

Nick joins the specialist real estate lender from Fortwell Capital, where he was a director responsible for development lending across the firm’s residential book and senior living portfolio.

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Commenting on his appointment, Nick said: “Octopus has built an exceptional reputation as a leading specialist property lender, and I am delighted to join the team and help drive its exciting plans for growth in the wider residential debt sector.”

Andy Scott, head of residential development at Octopus, said the appointment underscored the lender’s ambitions to further expand its product offerings to more asset classes, including care homes and retirement living.

“With his experience across these sectors, Nick is the perfect person to spearhead this expansion and help us take full advantage of the plentiful opportunities in the residential lending space,” he added.

Benjamin Davis, CEO at Octopus, stated: “Our investment team already manages over £1.6bn of investments, with a focus on care homes, retirement communities and affordable housing.

“We’ve been looking into fully committing to the debt space in these markets for some time now — we know the demand is there for us to expand our proposition further and provide a more joined-up approach for all our customers.

“Nick is joining the business at a great time, and we’re excited to see our development origination offering flourish under his direction.”