Harrison
Barker-Smith
Relationship Director
Pivot Finance
Harrison’s career in financial services began by accident rather than design. After deciding against university, he took a role at Together as a Commercial Sales Executive - his first exposure to bridging and commercial lending. What started as a “step into the unknown” quickly became a passion, shaped by his family’s strong property background and his natural curiosity about how deals come together. Over the years, Harrison has worked across the entire lending lifecycle - from underwriting and structuring to origination and relationship management. Along the way, he’s faced and overcome complex challenges, including managing a major development build during the pandemic after a contractor collapse. Each obstacle has strengthened his commercial insight and his reputation as a dependable, solutions-focused face to watch.
2025
"That early interest grew into a passion for development finance, and since then Harrison has taken on a wide range of roles that span the full deal lifecycle: from underwriting and structuring to origination and relationship management"
Building transparent and agile lending relationships:
Harrison's story so far...
Since joining Pivot Finance in early 2024, Harrison has supported the origination and management of over £14 million in development funding across just seven deals in the North of England - each one bespoke, high-value, and strategically complex. Across his wider career, he’s been involved in more than 116 transactions, totalling over £170 million in development finance.
A standout deal saw him structure a land and planning transaction that unlocked the development of 500 new homes across a multi-site project - a milestone both for scale and community impact. Harrison’s contribution extends beyond the numbers, too. He’s played a key role in refining Pivot’s deal handover process, advising on system design and building smoother collaboration between origination and credit teams.
Harrison's career highlights
- Supported £170m+ in total development finance transactions across 100+ deals.
- Structured a landmark deal enabling the development of 500 new homes.
- Helped redesign Pivot’s deal handover and credit process to boost efficiency.
- Launched a £6m refurbishment product in a previous role, identifying and filling a key market gap.
- Mentors colleagues and fosters collaboration through informal leadership and team culture initiatives.
Who else made the list?
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