Puma Property Finance appoints Louise Gillon as Director, Head of Hotels
Puma Property Finance (“Puma”) today announces the appointment of Louise Gillon as Director, Head of Hotels.
Louise joins from Leumi UK, where she has held the position of Head of Hotel Finance for the past 16 years. She has established herself as a leading authority in the sector and a champion of the hospitality industry. A regular speaker at industry events, Louise has supported hoteliers and investors through the property cycles.
She was instrumental in guiding clients through some of the industry’s toughest times during the pandemic, and in navigating the changing landscape that followed. She is known for balancing expert-led decision making with a flexible, collaborative lending approach to suit the needs of a diverse client base.
Prior to her role at Leumi UK, Louise was a Commercial Credit Analyst at AIB.
Paul Frost, Managing Director of Puma Property Finance, commented:
“We are absolutely delighted to welcome Louise to the team. Her experience and deep knowledge of the hospitality sector will be invaluable as we look to increase our exposure to this attractive asset class.
“The launch of our new debt fund series, on the back of our strategic partnership with Madison, gives us access to further attractively-priced, flexible capital to support our growing client base. We are excited to be investing in our senior squad as we enter this next phase of growth for the business.”
Louise Gillon, Director, Head of Hotels, added:
“I am thrilled to be joining Puma at such an exciting time for the business, particularly as there is so much potential to deepen our funding of the hotels space. We are optimistic about the UK hotel sector, which continues to evolve through ongoing investments in refurbishment and repositioning of assets to maximise their trading potential. Additionally, the sector is increasingly embracing innovative technological solutions to enhance profitability and improve the customer experience, all while focusing on creating environmentally sustainable and resilient properties.
“As Puma accelerates its growth strategy and expands its market presence following the recent partnership with Madison, it is wonderful to be joining such a motivated and ambitious team. I’m looking forward to leading our expansion in the hotels sector.”
The newly established Head of Hotels role reflects the continued growth ambitions of the Puma business. In May, Puma announced a strategic partnership with Madison International Realty, which included a large cornerstone investment to underpin the launch of Puma’s new institutional credit fund series. The commitment will enable Puma to build a seed loan portfolio for the fund of over £150 million as part of targeting an overall fundraise of £350+ million.
The new partnership with Madison is enabling Puma to attract the very best professional talent from the industry to join its experienced team. It is also broadening its range of lending products, including increasing its maximum development loan size from £50 million to £100 million and expanding its provision of standalone stabilisation loans for operational real estate assets.