Interview with Sam Le Pard, LEXI Finance

What does it say on your business card?

Sam Le Pard, co-founder of LEXI Finance!

How does LEXI help developers and property investors?

LEXI Finance is a real estate capital advisory. We support property investors and developers by raising funds – both debt and equity – for their projects. The money comes from a full range of sources from high-net-worth individuals and family offices to investment banks and pension funds.

What type of projects do you get involved in?

We’re lucky! This year we’ve funded a full range of deals including the development of a skyscraper in Birmingham, a high-end art deco building with sea views in Bournemouth and a portfolio of investment assets including a pub, a church, and an airfield.

Does your company only operate in the UK?

We launched LEXI Finance in December 2019 and were primarily focused on the UK’s real estate market. However, since then we’ve also started offering our services in Portugal, Spain, Netherlands, and Ireland and are working with some of the UK’s most prestigious specialist lenders to deploy capital in these markets.

On the European front, we’re currently mid raise on a retirement living scheme and a hotel portfolio.

What is your one big prediction for 2022? And your company’s one big ambition?

Any 2022 prediction must come with a huge Covid-caveat, however if covid remains under control I’d expect to see retail and hospitality rebound strongly with offices also continuing their upwards trend. I’d also hope to see margin compression continue, making funding cheaper for our clients.

From a LEXI perspective, it would be great to fund the development of another 1,000 homes.

What is your greatest achievement in your current role and what made it so special?

Structuring over £200 million of finance in our second year in business was pretty special.

What is the most satisfying part of your job?

Going past developments that we’ve funded is always fun. It’s nice to think we’ve been a part of creating peoples’ new homes.

What do you see as the biggest challenge facing landlords/property investors at the moment?

Helping to fight the climate crisis isn’t going to be easy, but is hugely important given the built environments’ contribution to emissions and the rising costs of energy. As an industry, we need to keep innovating.