Private Credit

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Downing Private Credit

Downing provides senior and whole loan secured lending across sectors, from residential and mixed-use development to commercial property and specialist healthcare real estate, and across the risk-return spectrum.

We have been lending against real estate since 2010, structuring funding around the project in front of us. Our straightforward approach gives borrowers direct access to decision-makers, enabling clear answers, swift execution and terms you can rely on.

Our portfolio at a glance

Our Private Credit strategy is helping to solve the housing shortage across the UK and Ireland and supporting SMEs across a range of sectors.

£1.5bn

committed tocommercial lendingsince 2010.*

707

Loans made.*

130+

regional and localborrowers funded.*

£0.5bn

Current loan book.*

*as at March 2026.

What we lend on

Four lending capabilities, one underwriting standard.

Property Finance

Bridging, stretched senior development finance, construction and development exit, for residential, mixed use, student accommodation and similar schemes.

Commercial Real Estate Lending

Senior and whole lending against a broad range of commercial real estate sectors and asset classes, for professional sponsors and operators.

Healthcare Real Estate Lending

Senior debt against healthcare and social infrastructure assets, underwritten by a team that understands these as operating assets, not just buildings.

Wholesale Finance

Loan on loan facilities to SME Real Estate lenders, funding a share of advances to underlying borrowers.

Meet the team

Experience matters when investing. Our investment team is one of the most experienced in the UK.

Mark is a Partner and Head of Private Equity at Downing. With over 20+ years of private equity experience across origination, transaction and portfolio management, he has managed in excess of £1.5 billion of equity and debt capital. As well as managing one of Downing’s largest investment vehicles, he has extensive company board experience and has worked across a range of industry sectors including Healthcare, Hospitality and Leisure, Retail, Business Services, Specialty Manufacturing & Financial Services.

Mark has experience of investing in private and quoted companies with knowledge of operating businesses and real estate investment. Since joining Downing in June 2014, Mark has been spearheading the expansion of Downing's healthcare activities and the wider Private Equity Team. Consequently, Downing has been recognised as Private Equity Investor of the Year at the HealthInvestor Awards 2020 as well as being a Finalist for the last 6 years and Mark was individually recognised as the Lead Investor in HealthInvestor’s Power Fifty in 2023/24 and 2024/25, which recognises the industry’s most effective, inspiring and influential leaders across the health and social care market.

Mark joined Downing from the UK mid-market private equity firm, Caird Capital LLP. Prior to that he performed principal investment and leveraged finance roles at Bank of Scotland.

Parik joined Downing in August 2017 and heads the Private Credit Team, comprising both Property Finance and Wholesale Lending. On the property finance side he is primarily focused on residential development finance, non-speculative commercial development finance and bridging finance, whilst on the wholesale lending side he is focused on providing structured finance facilities to other lenders. Parik has 20 years' financial services experience, predominantly focused on debt and the real estate finance space where he has led over 150 transactions, but has broader experience including leveraged finance, restructuring and private equity placement. Parik spent nearly 10 years within the Corporate Bank at Barclays, including time as a Director in the Real Estate Finance Team, and has also held positions at Funding Circle, Citigroup, Puma Investment Management and Asante Capital Group.