Sam Hutchins is a specialist property finance advisor at Blueberry Specialist Lending and the founder of Fitness in Finance, an online coaching platform built specifically for people working in financial services. In this episode, Sam and Michael talk candidly about why the industry’s long-hours culture is quietly burning people out, what drove a 25-year-old broker to launch a fitness coaching business while still working full time, and what a healthier, sharper finance professional actually looks like in practice. From diet, alcohol and sleep to body dysmorphia, wearables and the increasingly divisive topic of weight-loss jabs, this one covers far more ground than your average finance podcast. Honest, practical and genuinely entertaining.

Guest: Sam Hutchins, Specialist Property Finance Advisor, Blueberry Specialist Lending

Guest Socials: LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-hutchins-260917227/

Sponsored by:

Avamore Capital

https://avamorecapital.com

#SpecialistFinance #PropertyFinance #BridgingFinance #DevelopmentFinance #SpecialistLending #Bridging #Development #Business #Leadership #FitnessInFinance #MentalHealth #HealthAndWellbeing #FinanceLife #WorkplaceWellness #BrokerLife #PropertyFunding #AvamoreCapital #FitnessMotivation #SpecialistLending

Chapters:

00:00:00 - Intro and Sam’s Finance Career

00:06:00 - Office Life, Covid and Career Development

00:09:39 - The Birth of Fitness in Finance

00:15:00 - Credibility Without Qualifications

00:20:00 - Training, Nutrition and the Social Media Problem

00:26:00 - Alcohol, Motivation and What Actually Sticks

00:32:39 - Client Coaching and Working With Different Abilities

00:42:49 - Weight Loss Jabs, Steroids and Body Dysmorphia

00:49:27 - Mental Health, Sleep and the Social Side of Fitness

00:56:54 - Time Management, Business Crossover and What’s Next

Adam Butler, Director of Sales and Marketing at Avamore Capital, returns to the podcast to talk about the lender’s remarkable growth story – a 90% increase in volumes in H2 2025, driven by bespoke in-house tech, an expanded and increasingly diverse sales team, and a renewed commercial mindset. Adam unpacks Avamore’s £250 million lending target for the new financial year, explains how their new broker portal and DIP calculator are set to transform broker efficiency, and shares his take on certainty of funding, geographic expansion beyond the South-East, and why saying no the right way is sometimes the most powerful sales tool. Packed with insights on what makes deals progress well, how to compete with ‘hot lenders’, and why trust will always beat price in specialist finance.

Guest: Adam Butler, Director of Sales and Marketing, Avamore Capital

Guest Socials: LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-butler1/

Sponsored by:

Avamore Capital

https://avamorecapital.com

#SpecialistFinance #PropertyFinance #BridgingFinance #DevelopmentFinance #SpecialistLending #Bridging #Development #Business #Leadership #Fintech #PropertyDevelopment #RealEstateFinance #BusinessStrategy #TeamBuilding #SalesLeadership #BrokerRelationships #PropertyFunding #LendingTechnology #AvaMoreCapital #CertaintyOfFunding

Chapters:

00:00:00 – Intro and Adam’s Career Milestones at Avamore

00:07:40 – Building a Diverse, Knowledgeable Sales Team

00:11:54 – Lending Appetite and Core Products

00:19:07 – Geographic Expansion Beyond the South-East

00:24:26 – Market Dynamics and the Competitor Landscape

00:29:15 – The £250 Million Target

00:33:04 – Tech That Enables, Not Replaces

00:43:39 – What Makes a Deal Progress Well

00:52:52 – Staying Focused Amid Market Noise

01:02:15 – Scaling the Team and Career Advice

In this episode, Michael sits down with Deepak Ohri, Partner at Merali Beedle and one of the more colourful characters in specialist property law. The conversation is wide-ranging, frank, and refreshingly commercial: from why every lawyer ought to run a business before they can truly understand risk, to the creeping post-COVID decline in legal service quality, the case for and against title insurance and indemnity policies, and a candid dissection of fraud in property transactions — including a shared episode that Deepak and Michael were both involved in. They also dig into the state of the market, why now might be a generational buying opportunity for block purchases, the enduring appeal of HMOs, and why some bridge lenders were never really cut out for development in the first place.

Deepak opens up about the commercial instincts he developed long before law — from market stalls to helping his wife build a restaurant business — and why that real-world grounding shapes how he handles risk and client relationships today. He and Michael unpick the hidden cost of using a cheap conveyancer, how lenders’ and borrowers’ lawyers can do more to stop transactions grinding to a halt, and the uncomfortable truth that valuations are far more subjective — and far less reliable as security — than many bridging lenders seem to appreciate. They close with Deepak’s advice to his younger self: get out there, meet different people, and think about things in a wider way.

Guest: Deepak Ohri, Partner, Merali Beedle

Guest Socials: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deepak-o-44b2b33a/

Sponsored by:

Avamore Capital

https://avamorecapital.com

#SpecialistFinance #PropertyFinance #BridgingFinance #DevelopmentFinance #SpecialistLending #PropertyLaw #Conveyancing #FraudPrevention #HMO #PropertyDevelopment #RealEstateFinance #TitleInsurance #IndemnityPolicy #DevelopmentLending #ValuationRisk #BuyingOpportunity #MarketOutlook #LegalProfession #MeraliBeedle #AvaMoreCapital

Chapters:

00:00:00 – Why every lawyer should run a business

00:06:43 – Theoretical lawyers and the cost of opportunistic title disputes

00:13:02 – The restaurant world, food influencers, and running a service business

00:15:41 – Post-COVID legal quality: fees up, service down

00:19:43 – Streamlining transactions and the hidden cost of cheap conveyancers

00:24:44 – Title insurance and indemnity policies: are they fit for purpose?

00:26:39 – Fraud in property transactions and how to mitigate it

00:30:34 – Market themes: equity gaps, refinancing pressure, and a tough environment

00:35:17 – Generational buying opportunity: blocks, discounts, and stamp duty strategy

00:40:52 – HMOs, assisted living, and 2026 market themes

00:46:36 – Development lenders pulling back — and the bridging oversaturation problem

00:51:47 – Valuation risk: why 65% LTGDV dev might be safer than 75% LTV bridging

00:53:43 – Advice to your younger self