Paragon Bank make bridging finance appointments

Paragon Bank has appointed Kate Cooper as Senior Bridging Underwriter and Swaraj Dada as Head of Bridging Credit as it continues to build its newly created Bridging Finance team.

The appointments strengthen the specialist team being assembled by Colin Sanders, Managing Director of Bridging Finance, ahead of the proposition’s wider launch.

Dada brings 16 years of banking experience, including 12 years in credit. Most recently, he helped build AFIN Bank from inception through to launch and was previously part of the team that established Recognise Bank. His career also includes roles at RBS and Unity Trust Bank, with a focus on building and scaling lending firms and credit functions.

As Head of Bridging Credit, Dada will oversee all lending and credit activity across the Bridging proposition, including credit policy, risk management, underwriting and portfolio oversight.

Kate Cooper joins as Senior Underwriter, bringing more than a decade of specialist property finance experience. She previously worked at Paragon between 2015 and 2019 in the bank’s Mortgages division, before joining specialist lender BIG Property Finance, where she worked closely with the management team on the growth of its bridging business.

Before entering specialist finance, Cooper spent eight years at West Bromwich Building Society, gaining experience across multiple areas of the business before moving into underwriting. Her broad operational background and specialist bridging expertise will support the delivery of a seamless underwriting process for brokers and customers.

Colin Sanders, Managing Director of Bridging Finance, said”Building the right team is fundamental to our ambition of creating the most trusted specialist bridging lender in the market. Swaraj and Kate both bring significant experience, deep technical expertise and a genuine understanding of what brokers and customers need from a bridging lender.

“As the market evolves, customers are placing greater importance on certainty, transparency and dependable delivery. These appointments strengthen our ability to provide exactly that.”