FRP Real Estate appoints Ralph El Achkar as Associate Director    

The Real Estate Advisory team has appointed Ralph El Achkar as Associate Director, strengthening the team’s investment finance capability as equity moves back into the UK market and activity spreads beyond London.

Ralph joins FRP with 18 years in banking, the last seven spent lending against UK real estate. His earlier experience stretches across retail and corporate lending as well as trade finance in the Middle East. Thereafter, he moved into asset-backed financing and real estate finance as he settled in London with National Bank of Kuwait, closing debt transactions averaging £10m.

Most recently, his role at Al Rayan Bank included leading a team of relationship managers and closing real estate backed debt transactions over £15m. He structured solutions for risk participations covering syndications, sell-downs, and introduced the bank’s first unfunded asset-backed risk participation. He also played a key part in identifying alternative sources of funding leveraging the bank’s origination strength.

At FRP, based in the London office, Ralph will focus on delivering intuitive funding solutions for clients, bringing with him a deep understanding of residential portfolios, government-let blocks, single and multi-let offices, hotels, serviced apartments and student accommodation.

Ralph El Achkar, Associate Director at FRP Real Estate Advisory, commented: “What drew me to FRP is the breadth – a full spectrum of advisory and an enviable pool of funders – which means a structure can be built around the asset and the client’s strategy rather than around a single product. Deal making is still a relationship business, and this is a team with the reputation and the reach to back that up.”

Andrew Robinson, Partner at FRP Real Estate Advisory, added: “Ralph has spent his career on the other side of the table, and latterly on both sides of the balance sheet – originating deals, then structuring how they were funded and distributed. That gives him a clear read on how lenders think and what makes a case credible. Investment is where we are seeing the most movement, particularly outside London, and his arrival strengthens our ability to act on it for clients.”