The Intermediary – August 2026 - Flipbook - Page 54
I N T E RV I E W
During this transformation process,
a defining characteristic has been this
willingness to make decisions, positioning
Recognise as a “decisive bank.”
When it comes to borrowers with quirky
cases, Bateman does not see a problem, but an
opportunity for agile specialist lenders willing
to interrogate the individual deal on the table.
This decisiveness cuts both ways. If
something clearly falls outside of the bank’s
risk appetite, Recognise aims to give borrowers
a fast and fair ‘no’, so that they can find a
solution elsewhere.
Bateman says: “We’ve been impressed with
the volume of complex lending that’s needed
in the market, and we’re starting to get a name
for ourselves with our broker network and our
strategic partners. People want to come to us
to find out whether we’ll do a deal.
“There’s a level of nervousness across some
of the larger organisations at the moment,
because of uncertainty in the market.
“We are fortunate that our book is still
quite small, but yet we are very ambitious on
where we want to take that book and how
we want to grow it. But in doing so, we’re not
going to change the approach, the DNA of the
business.”
Amid change and uncertainty, one thing
has shifted very little: broker expectations,
particularly around consistency from lenders.
On the other side of this, Bateman adds, is
the need for intermediaries to provide clear
and correct information, and to engage in twoway communication with the bank.
He continues: “The communication between
a specialist lender and broker is going to
have to improve dramatically. Look at the
introduction of portals and digital interfaces for
brokers, do they really want them, or do we just
think they want them? Is it making their life
easier or our life easier?”
For Bateman, truly being a specialist means
being defined by the borrower’s needs, not
product labels. Market consolidation could risk
some specialist lenders losing sight of this as
they are subsumed by larger organisations.
The question that will take centre stage
during Recognise’s next phase, then, is:
how do you scale a specialist bank without
institutionalising it out of the very attributes
that make it specialist?
“Again, it comes back to that sustainable
growth,” Bateman says. “Executing the
business strategy, delivering profitable balance
sheet growth, and offering the products to the
market that the market needs rather than what
we think they need.
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The Intermediary | August 2026
We’re looking forward to having
more broker events, getting their
feedback, asking them what we can
do differently, how we can operate
differently, and the same will apply to
our strategic partners”
“The offerings that Recognise delivers have a
place in the market, and that market is getting
bigger. Our challenge is to service that larger
section of the market, to be flexible, and to
make sure that we know what those products
are. It’s making sure that we listen to our
brokers, rather than trying to put a square peg
in a round hole.”
Bateman’s tech-focused background gives
him an unusually sceptical perspective,
understanding that it cannot solve everything
in this market.
For example, Recognise Bank’s refreshed
strategy takes artificial intelligence (AI) into
account only as a way to make its existing
people more efficient. Where a process can be
sensibly automated, the preference is to do so,
but this does not come with removing human
involvement in individual deals, as long as
systems work and tech is deployed properly.
Bateman continues: “Smaller specialist
lenders going into larger organisations will
often be forced to take on channels that those
larger organisations do. They’ve often invested
millions on these systems, and they work in the
original sector, so why wouldn’t it work for the
specialist lender? Specialist lending is all about
the relationship, communication, having the
conversations with the brokers to understand
the borrower’s needs.
“You can’t do that just with a digital
interface. You also can’t do that just by picking
up the phone. You need different technologies
and interactions to get the best outcome.
“I’d like [brokers] not to get caught up in the
‘fear of missing out’ with AI, and not to select
lenders that profess to have AI tools that will
support pre-decisions.”
He adds: “We’re looking forward to having
more broker events, getting their feedback,
asking them what we can do differently, how
we can operate differently, and the same will
apply to our strategic partners.
“We’re on a journey as Recognise Bank, and
without the support of the brokers and the
