Larkin had a 26-year career at RBS, where he held a range of senior roles in real estate credit, restructuring and origination. Most recently, he spent four years as head of residential development within the restructuring team.

In his new role, Larkin is responsible for the structure and strategy behind LendInvest’s first official development finance offering.

LendInvest is also recruiting 25 new staff and in the process of finalising its move to new, larger offices near Oxford Circus, central London.

“The availability of development funds continues to be low, while demand from property entrepreneurs increases. The high street banks that have returned to development in the years since 2008 have a significantly reduced appetite to lend at the smaller end of the market,” Christian Faes, co-founder and CEO of Lendinvest, said.

Larkin added: "The sub-£10 million development market is where fast-moving bridging specialists have the best chance to achieve scale quickly."

This publication is in contact with LendInvest about how its offering fits with requirements of wealth managers and their clients, and will be publishing a profile in due course.