Monday 3rd August

Born in Limerick in 1970, Pat grew up in the city’s north side in Moyross, known as one of Limericks toughest neighbourhoods, where opportunities are few and far between. Leaving school at 14 years old he went to work in the hotel industry, at 15 he moved on and began working in the security industry from where he built one of Irelands largest companies in this field. Pat went on to mentor referral and business groups through the country. Name: Email: Pat is, nationally, a known lecturer and consultant in personal and business development; he has worked with government agencies, colleges, companies and non-profit organisations in the areas of training, counselling, mentoring, motivation and communication. He is a frequent communicator on radio, business magazines and other media sources, he has conducted seminars and workshops on various aspects of personal and business development which have been attended by thousands of people throughout Ireland and the UK

PROPERTY NEWS Bank of China starts to offer mortgages in the UK Bank of China has begun offering mortgages to British borrowers, who are finding it difficult to get loans from leading UK lenders. The world’s third-largest bank is lending at lower rates than many of the deals available from more established UK lenders. It has previously focused on lending to the Chinese community within the UK. With rates from 2.5 per cent over base, it is targeting homeowners and buy-to-let landlords who are struggling to get credit. It is marketing deals via four brokers, including Savills and Legal & General Mortgage Club. Bank of China’s approach will differ in several ways from its British peers. It will insist in meeting each borrower face-to-face before deciding to offer a loan, and will fund them from its own capital reserves, a more conservative approach than that of many UK lenders in the years of the housing boom. Although home loans jumped 17 per cent in June, with gross mortgage lending at a six-month high of £12.3 billion, from May’s £10.5 billion, the CML says it is 48 per cent down on June 2008. Read more...