Former Landbay managing director of intermediaries, Paul Brett has joined forces with the Brightstar Group to relaunch its Private Label lending proposition.

Brett will take on the role of project lead, working with brokers to identify opportunities to help clients whose needs are not met by existing propositions.

Brightstar and Brett are working with lenders to develop products that directly target these areas of demand, with plans to launch new offerings in the coming weeks.

Brett has worked in the mortgage industry for more than 30 years, for both lenders and packagers. He was part of a team that brought Foundation Home Loans to the UK intermediary market and most recently spent seven years at Landbay.

Private Label was a well-known packager in the intermediary mortgage market from the late 80s to the early 2000s.

It was founded by Stephen Knight, Barry Searle, Jeff Knight, Simon Knight and Godfrey Blight and worked with a number of smaller, centralised lenders to designed mortgage products. It was bought by General Motors, which became GMAC-RFC, in 1998 and cloded to new business in October 2002.

Brightstar purchased the brand and domain in 2016, launching several innovative products, including an Airbnb offering and a credit repair mortgage, in July 2017.

However, Brightstar group chief executive Rob Jupp told Mortgage Strategy that the market wasn’t ready for the products and that “we needed someone with lending experience to lead it.

The brand was put into “hibernation” as they waited for the right person to take it forward, with Jupp adding that Brett has extensive experience of the pressures lenders face and the wider market sensitivities that need to be addressed.

Of the relaunch and Brett’s position, Brightstar Financial managing director and deputy chief executive of the group, Brad Moore says:  “This is an important step in the next stage of the evolution of the Brightstar Group.

“Private Label is a brand with a rich heritage and a huge opportunity to once again make a valuable difference in the intermediary market. Paul’s knowledge and experience are unrivalled and he has an impressive track record of bringing brands and lending propositions to the market. It’s a powerful combination, and we’re very excited about what the future holds.”

Brett says: “I am thrilled to have the opportunity to reintroduce the Private Label brand to the  intermediary mortgage market. This is where we get to innovate and offer something truly distinctive. The relaunch of Private Label demonstrates a real commitment to crafting solutions that address the nuanced needs of today’s market.”

“Over the coming weeks, I’ll be holding workshops with brokers, who are the lifeblood of our industry, to find out what they actually need and what their frustrations are. I’ll then provide a direct mouthpiece into lenders to design and deliver products that truly meet client demand under the Private Label brand. And, of course, as an intermediary proposition, Private Label will always champion the needs of our broker partners. It’s not just a revival; it’s a new chapter.”