Credit Controller – Commercial Lending in London

We are currently recruiting for an experienced Credit Controller to join a well-established and growing specialist commercial finance business based in North West London. This is not a traditional sales ledger Credit Control position. The role sits within a specialist lending environment and will focus predominantly on the management of commercial loan arrears, working directly with business customers to resolve missed payments, negotiate appropriate solutions and minimise potential losses.

The successful candidate will therefore need previous experience within a UK lending business, ideally commercial, SME, property, specialist or alternative finance.

The Role

• Proactively contacting commercial lending customers in early arrears
• Investigating failed and cancelled Direct Debit payments and contacting customers to resolve payment issues
• Negotiating payments, payment plans and appropriate solutions with customers experiencing financial difficulties
• Managing a portfolio of cases and maintaining regular telephone and email contact with customers
• Gathering financial information and supporting documentation for forbearance and loan restructuring requests
• Assisting with loan restructures from the initial customer discussion through to completion and execution of documentation
• Liaising with solicitors where cases require legal input or further recovery action
• Preparing accurate loan statements and reconciling customer loan accounts
• Using credit reference agencies, Land Registry and other information sources to assess customers' financial position and assets
• Preparing documentation and files for solicitors where required
• Monitoring documentation and ensuring agreed actions are completed
• Maintaining accurate records and managing multiple cases simultaneously

The Candidate

We are looking for someone with approximately 3–5 years' relevant experience who has worked within a UK lending environment. You should ideally have:

• Previous commercial loan collections, arrears or recoveries experience
• Experience working for a lender, with commercial/SME lending particularly advantageous
• Knowledge of regulated and non-regulated lending
• Strong understanding of the collections and recoveries process
• Experience negotiating with customers regarding arrears, payment arrangements or forbearance
• The confidence to have challenging commercial conversations and negotiate effectively
• Familiarity with credit reference agencies and other financial/property search tools
• Good Excel skills and the ability to understand and reconcile loan accounts
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to manage multiple active cases
• The ability to work independently and take ownership of your workload

Experience of loan restructuring, forbearance, commercial lending, property finance or working with solicitors on recovery matters would be particularly beneficial.

Salary & Benefits

The position offers a salary of £35,000–£42,000 depending on experience, with flexibility up to £45,000 for an exceptional candidate, together with a comprehensive benefits package including:

• 25 days' annual leave plus bank holidays
• Private medical insurance
• Company pension
• Life insurance and wellbeing benefits
• Employee discounts and rewards
• Cycle-to-work scheme
• Hybrid working – initially one day per week from home, increasing to two days per week following successful completion of probation

Standard working hours are 9:00am–6:00pm Monday to Friday, with some flexibility for an exceptional candidate. This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced collections or recoveries professional looking to join a growing specialist lender where you will have responsibility for cases beyond initial arrears and be involved in more complex forbearance and restructuring work. Please apply with your CV for further information.