- Strengthening its senior lending team, Puma builds on its recent partnership with Madison International Realty and the launch of its institutional debt fund series
- Gillon, a recognised authority on the hospitality sector, spent 16 years leading Leumi UK’s Hotel Finance division
- The appointment highlights Puma’s expanded capital resources and ambition to scale its operational real estate platform alongside its Living sector activities
Puma Property Finance (“Puma”) has announced the appointment of Louise Gillon as Director and Head of Hotels.
Gillon brings extensive experience to her new role, having spent the past 16 years at Leumi UK as Head of Hotel Finance. Widely regarded as a leading authority in the hospitality sector, she has been a consistent advocate for hoteliers and investors and is a well-known speaker at industry events, offering valuable insights across market cycles.
Her career includes guiding clients through some of the sector’s most challenging periods, particularly during the pandemic, and helping them adapt to the evolving landscape that followed. Renowned for her balanced approach, she combines deep industry expertise with collaborative and flexible lending solutions tailored to diverse client needs.
Before joining Leumi UK, Gillon worked as a Commercial Credit Analyst at AIB, where she gained foundational experience in commercial lending and risk management.
The newly established Head of Hotels role reflects the continued growth ambitions of the Puma business. In May, Puma announced a strategic partnership with Madison International Realty, which included a large cornerstone investment to underpin the launch of Puma’s new institutional credit fund series. The commitment will enable Puma to build a seed loan portfolio for the fund of over £150 million as part of targeting an overall fundraise of £350+ million.
The new partnership with Madison is enabling Puma to attract the very best professional talent from the industry to join its experienced team. It is also broadening its range of lending products, including increasing its maximum development loan size from £50 million to £100 million and expanding its provision of standalone stabilisation loans for operational real estate assets.
Paul Frost, Managing Director of Puma Property Finance, commented: “We are absolutely delighted to welcome Louise to the team. Her experience and deep knowledge of the hospitality sector will be invaluable as we look to increase our exposure to this attractive asset class.
“The launch of our new debt fund series, on the back of our strategic partnership with Madison, gives us access to further attractively-priced, flexible capital to support our growing client base. We are excited to be investing in our senior squad as we enter this next phase of growth for the business.”
Louise Gillon, Director, Head of Hotels, added: “I am thrilled to be joining Puma at such an exciting time for the business, particularly as there is so much potential to deepen our funding of the hotels space. We are optimistic about the UK hotel sector, which continues to evolve through ongoing investments in refurbishment and repositioning of assets to maximise their trading potential. Additionally, the sector is increasingly embracing innovative technological solutions to enhance profitability and improve the customer experience, all while focusing on creating environmentally sustainable and resilient properties.
“As Puma accelerates its growth strategy and expands its market presence following the recent partnership with Madison, it is wonderful to be joining such a motivated and ambitious team. I’m looking forward to leading our expansion in the hotels sector.”
