LHV Bank has launched into the specialist buy-to-met market and added a new director of SME lending while expanding its team of relationship managers.  

The Estonia-based lender currently offers commercial real estate investment loans and trading loans starting at £500,000 to small and medium-sized businesses.  

But now it says it will “extend its offering with a third product pillar focused on the specialist BTL sector”.  

The business has appointed Conor McDermott as its new director of SME lending, who will also sit on the bank’s executive committee, as it boosts its lending range.  

It says McDermott has over two decades of experience in the commercial lending market, and “has built a significant and deep professional network in the property and healthcare sectors in particular”.  

McDermott was head of lending at Monument most recently.  

The bank has also added two relationship managers, Savvas Nicola and Edwin Yamoah.  

It says Nicola brings over 20 years of experience in relationship management, origination, and credit from Lloyds Bank and Metro Bank.    

While Yamoah has a range of experience in commercial and corporate banking, having worked across diverse portfolios of businesses at Santander for over 12 years.  

LHV Bank was founded in 2012 and began providing banking services to fintech clients in Estonia. It expanded into the UK market in 2018, opening a London branch and was granted a UK banking licence last year.  

LHV Bank chief executive Erki Kilu says: “Since gaining our banking licence in May 2023 and the inception of our SME lending activities, we have successfully increased our loan book to £70m by the end of last year alone.  

“Building on the momentum of our initial success, we have set ambitious targets for 2024.   

“We aim to issue £200m in new loans this year. Through new strategic leadership, talented lending teams in both London and Manchester and an extended product offering, we are well-positioned to support businesses driven by an entrepreneurial mindset.”