4 | Investment Excellence Awards 2026 Best Healthcare Finance Brokerage 2026 – UK Montane Finance (Montane), at its core, helps clients secure the funding they need to acquire, develop, refinance, and grow their businesses. However, it does so much more, believing that its role goes well beyond simply acting as an intermediary between a client and a lender. This is seen through its relationship-led approach in a commercial finance market that is highly transactional, positioning Montane as something that is purposefully different. Scott explained: “Our philosophy is based upon relationships rather than transactions. We don’t aspire to complete one transaction for a client; our ambition is to become a trusted partner throughout their business journey.” Montane achieves this by taking the time to understand the people behind a business before discussing a funding solution with them. With its conversations starting before a transaction and continuing long after, Montane quickly becomes a trusted voice in developing their financial strategy in the long term. Building these kinds of relationships is especially important in the healthcare and hospitality sectors where Montane operates, and the firm is able to combine the unrivalled sector knowledge of its team with strong relationships across the lending market. This sees it work with a range of clients, from independent, family-owned businesses to growing operators and established national groups. Its approach of understand the client, understand the ambition, and build the right financial strategy remains the same, regardless of their size. Taking a closer look at Montane’s work within the healthcare sector especially, Scott told us: “Within healthcare, we support clients across the full lifecycle of their businesses. This can include acquisition finance, development funding, refinancing, portfolio restructuring, capital expenditure, and growth funding, alongside more complex or bespoke requirements where a conventional funding structure may not necessarily provide the best solution.” Access to more than 250 capital providers, from traditional high-street banks to specialist healthcare and private credit providers, adds to Montane’s value, but the money itself is actually a very small part of the equation. Instead, the real value comes from understanding which capital is right for which client, depending on where they are in their journey. Figuring this out is made more difficult by a fund landscape that continues to evolve. “For Montane, staying ahead of that curve comes down to specialism, relationships, and market intelligence.” Everything different that Montane stands for in this space is reflected through both its core values, which centre around relationships, integrity, expertise, and ambition, and its mantra: Reach Your Peak. This, essentially, is what it helps its clients to achieve, and a big part of this comes from Montane’s ability to help them look beyond the funding that is right in front of them, as the cheapest solution is not always the best one for their growth. Again, within healthcare specifically, this is vital, as many of those Montane represents have significant aspirations regarding their future. For example, Scott shared: “A client may approach us initially regarding the acquisition of a single care home, but if their ambition is ultimately to build a substantial regional or national group, we need to consider how today’s funding decision supports tomorrow’s opportunity.” Perhaps the key to Montane achieving this is its independence. Being independent allows Montane to assess all of the financial options available to its clients objectively, and recommend to them what it believes is the best solution. This lays the groundwork for exceptional client service, with Montane’s standing as a proud specialist boutique brokerage seeing it have a responsibility for its clients’ success, and it never takes this responsibility lightly. Accessibility and communication are both key in Montane’s client journey, and those who trust this specialist healthcare commercial finance brokerage as a partner in their growth value its clarity and personal service. Equally as important is ownership, which again stems from the trust Montane knows clients put into it to get the results they seek. An acquisition, refinance, or development could represent years of work and be fundamental to the next steps of a brand, and this is why Montane takes personal responsibility for it. Remaining actively involved in proceedings and guiding clients through what is rarely a straight-line process, Montane underpins its exceptional service with genuine expertise, resulting in a deeply personal offering and a model that keeps people coming back. As digitisation becomes an increasingly important part of the commercial finance industry, the firm is paying particularly close attention to this also, looking for ways to enhance its work without detracting from it. Fundamentally, it is as simple as this: If technology enables the team to spend less time on administration and more time understanding a client’s business, considering their strategy, engaging with lenders, and structuring the right solution, then it directly supports the Montane model and the team are all for it. If that technology seeks to relace the relationships the firm builds with its clients, and which are the very foundation of all it stands for, then it is of no value to these healthcare finance brokers based in the East Midlands. Touching on the future of Montane, Scott told us how important it is for this provider of care home acquisition and development finance to protect the culture it has created as it continues to go from a smaller, Derbyshire-based firm to a firm whose outlook and reach are national. He commented: “We want to continually improve our business, attract exceptional people, deepen our expertise, and broaden our national presence, all the while helping our clients achieve their own aspirations.” Scott’s mention of people leads us to something else that is key for Montane’s expansion: its team. People have always been an integral part of Montane Group, from the day Montane Finance opened its doors in 2019 to the opening of Montane Insurance Services in 2024, and this focus remains as strong as ever today. Everyone flying the Montane flag is talented, ambitious, aligned with the firm’s values, and cares about its clients. In return for their dedication, this brokerage offers them a place to grow and thrive across their careers. Commercial finance has always been a transactional industry, but as the commercial finance brokers for healthcare businesses behind Montane Finance are showing, finance today is all about relationships and people. A specialist healthcare commercial finance brokerage, Montane Finance is part of the Montane Group, all the divisions of which are headed up by Scott Murcott. As this healthcare finance brokerage is celebrated in our Investment Excellence Awards 2026, Scott told us more about Montane Finance.
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