Harpenden Building Society has named Mike Cutler as its commercial director, a newly created role at the lender.

Cutler commands over 30 years’ experience in financial services, including over five years at Tesco Bank and nearly a decade in various senior positions at what was then ING Direct UK and is now Barclays Direct.

At Harpenden, he will be responsible for developing the firm’s mortgage and savings propositions.

Cutler says: “This is a great time to be joining Harpenden. I’ll be working alongside a new dynamic and evolving management team where there is a real drive to create a meaningful mortgage proposition that serves the needs of intermediaries and their customers.

“The year ahead will see a focus on improving the service, response times and simplifying how intermediaries work with us.

“As a lender dedicated to lending to customers with more complex needs such as multiple sources of income, self-employed and even unusual properties, it’s our flexible, personal underwriting approach that will help us make a difference and become a lender of choice for our intermediary partners going forward. This is the start of a new journey for us as a lender and exciting times are ahead!”

And Harpenden chief executive Richard Doe adds: “[Cutler] has an excellent track record and experience gained in a mutual environment alongside a successful career path spent with progressive banking and mortgage businesses.

“[Cutler] will play a key role in developing exclusive options for our network partners whilst enhancing our proposition to the mortgage intermediary market more generally. His appointment is a significant addition to Harpenden’s management team.”