Meet The Team

Martin Higgins

Joint Managing Director

Martin has been working for what was a family company since 1994. Together with his father, he developed it from a small family business to what is now one of the foremost providers of non-regulated commercial finance in Southern England.

He has a wealth of financial experience across varying markets including extensive knowledge of debt restructuring.

With over twenty years’ experience in solely providing business and property development funding, he has a strong grasp on the marketplace, the figures and debt structure. This enables him to quickly recognise the value of a proposal to both the lender and the borrower.

Paul Miracca

Joint Managing Director

From being an estate agent through to running his own construction and development company for ten years, Paul’s career has taken him through all areas of the property industry. As a shareholder and joint managing director of MSP, his passion for development and knowledge of the trade has lead MSP forward to become a best-in-class lender.

As well as managing the general performance of our loan book and keeping oversight of every lend we do, Paul’s unique viewpoint means his expertise are often called upon to help with the strategic initiatives and projects that improve each client’s experience.

His in-depth understanding of what property developers need from their lender continues to keep relationship-led lending at the heart of what we do.

Adam Tovey

Director of Risk and Underwriting

Born and raised in Dorset, Adam is a qualified Chartered Surveyor with nearly 20 years’ experience in the property and financial service industries.

Before joining MSP Capital in January 2010, Adam had gained an excellent reputation at a large multi-disciplined property agency where he undertook valuations for secured lending purposes for all the major UK banks.

Adam has played a key role in MSP Capital’s growth and evolution since joining. Not only has he been integral in evaluating and mitigating credit and risk but, using his ingenuity and keen eye for opportunities he has driven numerous successful initiatives for new products and strategies for growth.

As Director of Risk and Underwriting and a Board member of MSP, Adam leads both the Valuation and Underwriting teams and has accountabilities for all valuations and credit risk within the company. He also manages numerous longstanding client portfolios and continues to generate new business

Nicky Hollamby

Finance Director

Nicky is a Chartered Accountant who trained as an auditor with Grant Thornton, where she gained significant experience working with a wide variety of clients from small owner-managed businesses to PLCs.

Since joining MSP in November 2017, Nicky has focused on growing the finance team as well as ensuring they provide real time data and analysis to the wider team to allow informed decision making.

As Associate Director, Nicky oversees the financial operations, working with the Directors and Board to strategically enhance the current capital structure. Working closely with external partners, Nicky also ensures that we continue to have certainty of funding and the capital needed for MSP to reach its strategic goals.

Lee Merrifield

Director of Credit

Lee is a qualified Chartered Banker who spent 28 years with a Top 5 High-street Bank, prior to joining the team at MSP Capital.

During his time in banking, Lee spent 15 years working in the real estate sector both in Bournemouth and Southampton. Initially this involved providing client funding and support for a range of residential development, commercial property, and residential investment projects. More latterly the focus was on the risk assessment and credit control elements of lending to real estate clients.

Lee joined MSP Capital in October 2017 to assist with the credit control functions of the business as Underwriting & Credit Manager. As of January 2023 – reflecting the continued growth of the business – Lee now heads the Credit Team in his role as Associate Director of Credit. As Associate Director he also drives the business forward strategically, working with the MSP Directors to ensure we remain at the forefront of specialist property lending.

Chris Sheppard

Associate Director of Underwriting

Chris joined MSP Capital in August 2016 as an initial member of the Underwriting and Business Development team. As of January 2023 Chris is now an Associate Director and in his new role will be responsible in conjunction with the other directors for driving forward MSP and continuing to shape and develop future strategy to ensure that MSP remain the lender of choice for development and bridging finance.

After graduating from Plymouth University with a degree in Business Studies, Chris qualified as a chartered banker and spent 22 years with a Top 5 High-street Bank. During his time in banking Chris worked across both corporate and commercial markets,  with a particular focus on the real estate sector where he stayed for ten years before joining MSP.  

Chris has therefore numerous years’ experience in providing funding for residential development as well as commercial and residential investment. MSP has allowed Chris to further develop his in-depth understanding of what a client in the property industry needs from their lenders in order to succeed – something that he is keen to carry on to ensure that MSP attracts new clients and remains a growing and successful business.

Chris Wright

Associate Director of Valuation

Since graduating from the University of Kingston in 2007 with an MA in European Real Estate Management, Chris has worked for a number of multi-disciplined property firms on the South Coast, becoming a Chartered Surveyor in 2010.

His previous roles saw him undertake secured lending valuations on behalf of all major UK banks, and providing advisory work for several private clients regarding the development of both commercial and residential properties. Chris concentrated on utilising his professional nature and industry expertise to build strong client relationships over the past decade. This has meant that many of Chris’ historic clients have gone on to become well-regarded clients of MSP, and continues to generate new business.

Having joined MSP Capital in 2018, Chris is responsible for managing the valuer relationships, providing internal consultancy advice and quality assurance reviews prior to lending. As Associate Director he also drives the business forward strategically, continually looking for areas of growth in the property industry.

Arian Manouchehri

Head of Broker Originations and Senior Underwriter

Arian joined MSP Capital in January 2021 and is responsible for overseeing the origination and completion of all loans introduced by brokers and other intermediary partners.  Arian’s focus is not only to form strong and long-lasting relationships with brokers but to lead on the further enhancement of our presence within the broker network.

Arian is a ‘Big Four’ Chartered Accountant with prior experience in private equity and investment management, and a London School of Economics Alumni.  With an extensive financial understanding and motivated by his own family development business, Arian has been working in Property Finance for a number of years. He has extensive experience in debt structuring and specialises in helping brokers to create simple solutions to complex funding requirements, securing the best outcome for their clients.

Dan Curtis

Head of In-House Legal

Dan has worked in the commercial property market for over 20 years, and joined the team as our Head of In-House Legal in 2024. In the early part of his career, he worked at Wragge & Co (now part of Gowling WLG). He then spent 13 years with Blake Lapthorn/Blake Morgan, with seven of those years being spent as a partner. Dan’s interest in commercial property, and in particular the financing of real estate deals, means that he has quickly become an invaluable member of the team. A core part of his role is leading the internal legal department to help further streamline our lending process and working alongside our underwriting and valuations team to advise on the legal aspects of real estate deals.

Rachel Bartlett

Head of Marketing & People

Rachel joined MSP in early 2021 as our Marketing Manager, having worked previously for LV= in the marketing department for several years after graduating. Using her experience in content creation, brand strategy and campaign management she developed a marketing department from scratch, to help build upon MSP’s ambitious and exciting plans for future growth. in 2024, Rachel was asked to become Head of Marketing & People. Her role is to enhance the company’s brand both internally and externally. Overseeing the Marketing, Human Resources, and Office Administration departments, she ensures that the brand values and culture are integrated into every aspect of our operations.

Mike Townsend

Business Development Manager

Prior to joining MSP Capital in May 2022, Mike spent 35yrs with a Top 5 High-street Bank. For twenty of those years, Mike worked as a Relationship Manager specialising in the South Coast Real Estate sector.  Through this role he provided funding solutions and support to clients for various residential developments, commercial properties, and residential investment projects.

As part of the Underwriting & Business Development Team, Mike’s role is to further spread awareness of the MSP brand, primarily across the Hampshire & West Sussex areas, and seek out new funding opportunities to help meet MSP’s continued growth aspirations.

His in-depth knowledge of the industry, experience in building relationships and expertise in structuring property deals is seen as being invaluable to the business and clients alike.

Louise Garner

Junior Underwriter

Louise joined MSP Capital in 2022 as a Junior Underwriter. Previously working for a Top 5 High-street Bank, Louise has over six years’ experience in the finance industry, with three years focussing on the real estate industry in the Dorset & Hampshire regions.  Over the years she has helped organise the funding for residential developments, commercial properties, and residential investment properties.

As Junior Underwriter at MSP Capital, Louise will be assisting with the loan applications for new and existing clients, as well as helping the team generate new lending opportunities. Her excellent relationship management and her experience in finding tailored funding solutions for property clients makes her a natural fit to the team.

Jo Kelly

Credit Analyst

Jo joined MSP Capital in 2022 as a Credit Analyst. With over 25 years’ experience in the finance industry, including working for a top 5 High Street Bank and Asset Finance providers. 

Using her skills in areas like risk assessment, credit reports and customer relationships, Jo has spent the last seven years as a Senior Relationship Manager to help support businesses in Dorset with their asset finance requirements.

At MSP Capital Jo will use her expertise in asset lending and financial analysis to assist both the Head of Broker Relations and Underwriting and Credit Manager.

Karen Sloyan

Deal Administrator

Before joining MSP in 2019, Karen worked for a Top 5 High-street Bank for 14 years. It was here that she honed her expert organisational skills, working closely with the Branch Manager to improve efficiency and drive business growth.

Her attention to detail meant that Karen maintained optimum service standards and took total responsibility for all controls and risks within the branch, as well as travelling to other branches in the Bournemouth area to improve their KYC and compliance controls – often taking branches to ‘platinum’ status within the Bank.

As Deal Administrator at MSP, Karen keeps the wheels turning smoothly when it comes to writing deals for our clients.  As well as being a key point of contact throughout the underwriting process, Karen manages the operational documentation for the department and ensures audits are completed to our usual high standard.  

Conor Knight

Junior Business Development Analyst

Conor is a dynamic professional with a diverse background. After completing an 18-month apprenticeship in a property firm specialising in mortgages and protection sales progression, he ventured into entrepreneurship, successfully managing his own restaurant for three years. Currently, as a junior business development analyst for Arian, Conor brings a wealth of experience and a passion for driving growth and innovation.