Len joins the bank from Close Brothers Property Finance, where he most recently served as a business development director.

Before that, he worked as a lending manager at Dunbar Bank.

Paragon’s development finance division grew lending by 24% to £623.2m in its last financial year, with its loan book increasing to £719.9m compared to £608.2m the year before.

On his appointment, Len said: “Paragon has developed an excellent reputation in the development finance market over recent years and I am looking forward to helping the company move to the next stage.

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“It has an excellent quality client base, and we will look to continue to support those developers, whilst bringing new clients on board.

“It’s an exciting time to join the company, despite the economic environment, and I am looking forward to meeting with clients in the coming weeks and months.”

Neal Moy, managing director of development finance at Paragon, added: “Len’s background speaks for itself, and I’m pleased that we have added somebody with his track record and experience to the team.

“We are a relationship bank that looks to build deep connections with clients and Len has the expertise to do that.”