The event — which took place just meters away from the pebble beaches of the popular shorefront, well in view of the amusement pier (both the new and the skeleton of its predecessor) — aimed to give Atelier a ‘boots-on-the-ground’ presence for its clients and partners.

“[We’ve] been taking our message out to the regions, and that's something really important to us to support,” said Chris Gardner, CEO at Atelier.

Before Brighton, the lender had been to Birmingham and Bristol and is due in Leeds next, with Southampton, Newcastle and Edinburgh also on the agenda.

Property finance firm Carbon Financial Consultants, which has worked extensively with Atelier in the Brighton area — helping the lender expand further into larger developments — was also in attendance.

Tom Reynolds, head of development at Carbon, said Brighton was seen as an “underserved” market, and one that was reasonably disconnected from neighbouring areas, including London, and that is why the two firms are now expanding their relationships within the region.

Tom is not alone in his view of the seaside haven, as at Atelier the sentiment is similar — the lender believes that Brighton doesn’t attract the same level of funding as other areas of the UK which are viewed as up-and-coming.

Martin Gilsenan, chief originations officer at Atelier, sees Brighton as a strong and liquid property market: “[It’s] is an area of high demand which is attractive to a broad demographic, and this is reflected in its strong property market which is proving resilient despite the challenging market.

“This illustrates our view that there are certain pockets and Brighton is one, which are relatively underserved.”

Tom explained how Atelier had funded the delivery of over 300 units for Carbon’s clients over the past 18 months — with more in the pipeline — and had proactively worked with the company on co-hosted events and marketing opportunities.

As the attendees gathered around in the function room, taking a break from the casual chatter and glass of wine, Chris and Martin, were keen to give a flavour of where the lender fits and where its interests lie in this region.

“We only do property and development finance — [including bridging loans] — so our balance sheet doesn't have other assets competing with it. That's really important because it means [we're] committed to the property market 365 days a year,” explained Chris.

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When defining Atelier’s commitment to SME solutions, Chris detailed how the lender is not constrained by products or onerous funding line restrictions, and that it is able to structure deals that work for brokers and clients.

The finance provider was keen to show what these deals looked like, including its first venture into the care home development market with a Bedfordshire scheme consisting of 71 beds, where the facility was agreed at £10.7m at 70% LTGDV on a 25-month term.

Additionally, the lender reported it had recently completed its biggest deal to date in Chertsey, with a rooftop conversion loan at £26m and 70% LTV over 18 months.

Atelier was joined by Carbon in showcasing its collaborative projects in the area

Despite the company’s latest developments, Martin emphasised that the business — much like the rest of the country — had no magic answers when predicting what happens next on the back of rising interest rates.“We'd liken it to dropping a stone down a well and waiting for the splash at the bottom: it hasn't happened and it's a long way down,” he continued.

The feeling of uncertainty was shared throughout the event, as attendees didn’t appear to have much of a forecast as to what the continuous swelling of interest rates and inflation would mean.

Despite this, the lender was far more certain of its green product range, the Carbonlite Challenge.

Chris shared his thoughts on the government’s EPC rating scheme and its futility, something that the Carbonlite Challenge hopes to rectify with its four main elements based around carbon emissions during development, operational carbon emitted during residence, drinking water usage, and sustainability.

The aim of the challenge is to produce a practical and sustainable approach to lending which varies from the thermal-centric government EPC ratings and attempts to produce an all-round environmentally sustainable approach to development.

Atelier’s sustainability approach was just one part of the tapestry that it communicated with its borrowers and partners in Brighton.

As the canape trays began to dwindle down and the chatter started to fade as people spilled out on the Brighton side street, neighbouring the overcast but pleasant Brighton beachfront, the Atelier team could be rest assured it had put faces to names with eyes set on its other roadshows up and down the country.