Close Brothers Property Finance (CBPF) has made two new senior strategic hires.
Manu Dinamani has been appointed as director in the new structured finance team in London and Iain Melville has been appointed senior business development manager, to bolster the firm’s team focused on lending across Yorkshire and Northern England.
Dinamani (pictured) joins Close Brothers Property Finance from investment manager Downing where he was investment director. Prior to that, he held roles at build-to-rent developer Watkin Jones, Crosslane Co-living and Phoenix London and Regional.
Melville began his career with Close Brothers Property Finance in Edinburgh in 2010 before joining NatWest’s corporate real estate team in Leeds in the role of relationship director. In 2020, he joined Yorkshire-based sustainable developer Citu, where he was responsible for sourcing and structuring development/investment finance from both public and private sources as group funding manager.
Phil Hooper, chief executive officer of Close Brothers Property Finance, said: “Manu and Iain’s wealth of industry experience will be hugely instrumental in driving our growth, both geographically as we expand further into Northern England as well as laterally, as we increase our presence in the dynamic build-to-rent and PBSA sectors.”
Dinamani added: “Build-to-rent is at an exciting juncture. I’m looking forward to working alongside Chiara Caldwell [managing director for structured finance] and the wider team to grow Close Brothers Property Finance’s position in this fast-paced and evolving market, supporting the delivery of high-quality rental homes.”
Melville said: “Close Brothers Property Finance has a reputation in the industry for its relationship-centric approach to lending. Providing SME housebuilders in Yorkshire and the North of England with tailored financing solutions will be key to supporting them in delivering much-needed new homes in the region.”
