About the firm
We built the brokerage we wanted when we were the ones borrowing.
Keystone Commercial Funding is a commercial finance brokerage working across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. We arrange ten funding facilities for business owners, property investors and developers — and we buy, build and refinance on our own account too, which is where our view of a good deal comes from.
How it started
The deal that shaped how we work.
Keystone started with a three-unit conversion of our own — bought on a bridge, with an exit onto a term facility agreed in principle before exchange. On paper it was a good deal, and it was.
Two weeks before the bridge expired, the term lender repriced its appetite for that asset class and stepped away. The scheme was built and let, on programme — nothing about it had changed. What was missing was somebody watching the exit while the market moved underneath it.
Lenders change their appetite — they always have, and they always will. The lesson was that the exit deserves as much attention as the facility itself, and that somebody should be watching it from the day the bridge is drawn.
That is how Keystone works. We stress test the exit before you commit, so the refinance is evidenced rather than assumed. We stay on development facilities for every stage release. And when a lender's appetite starts to shift, you hear it from us while there is still plenty of time to act on it. Clients tend to come back because of that last part.
Who you deal with
A small team, and you will know all of us.
There is no call centre and no handover to a junior. The person who takes your first call is the person who writes your terms and sees the case through to drawdown.
Bridging and commercial term debt
Founder and director
Runs the cases from first call to drawdown and holds the lender relationships. Has bought, refurbished, let and refinanced property personally throughout, which is where the firm's view of what a good facility looks like came from.
Ground-up build, conversion, heavy refurbishment
Development finance
Handles the schemes: appraisal, cost plan, drawdown schedule and the running relationship with the monitoring surveyor once the facility is live. Has run their own build programmes, so the appraisal that comes back to you is one a lender will actually accept.
Packaging, valuations, solicitors
Case management
The reason cases keep moving. Chases the valuer, keeps both sets of solicitors talking to each other, and tells you exactly where the file is rather than that it is progressing.
How we work
Four commitments we make on every case.
Worth knowing before you call. They are the reason clients come back and the reason they refer us on.
- 1
One lender, chosen deliberately
We identify the right lender for your case first, then present it once, properly. That protects your credit file and gets you a better answer than a case sent out to a panel to see who responds.
- 2
Rates checked against your actual case
The number we give you is one we have already tested against that lender's criteria for your asset, your entity and your exit — so what you see at the start is what you get at the end.
- 3
An honest answer, early
If the numbers do not work as they stand, we will tell you on the first call and show you what would need to change to make them work. Often that is a different facility rather than a smaller ambition.
- 4
We stay on after drawdown
The exit on a bridge and the stage releases on a development facility are where a good deal is protected. We are still on the file for both, and we start work on the exit early.
Who we work with
We place business across high street banks, challenger banks, specialist lenders and private funders, and we are paid the same whichever one writes your loan.
Property investors
From a first buy-to-let through to mixed portfolios — buying at auction, refurbishing, refinancing and releasing equity to grow.
Developers
Two-unit conversions through to multi-plot sites, funded in stages with the appraisal built to survive the monitoring surveyor.
Business owners
Buying the premises you trade from, funding equipment and growth, or smoothing the gap between invoicing and getting paid.