Mr Toby will report to Susan Geddes, head of real estate finance at Abbey. Mr Toby was previously Kaupthing Singer and Friedlander where he was head of property finance. Prior to that, he was a director at Wintrust Securities. He previously held other property finance positions with Crowell Land, Charterhouse Bank and HSBC Property Finance.

Susan Geddes said: 2007 has been an exciting year for real estate finance at Abbey. We have bolstered the team with some significantly strong hires and with a very strong origination profile. Toby brings a wealth of experience that will prove highly valuable as we continue to build the business.