Independent financial advisor Furnley House has appointed Nicki Thomas as its head of mortgages.

Veteran Thomas joins the company in the newly-created post from high street bank Santander, where she was mortgage business manager.

She has previously held senior roles at Alliance and Leicester, Britannia Building Society, Skipton and Nat West.

The Leicester-based group says Thomas’ appointment comes as it has seen increased demand for its mortgage services during lockdown and is part of a “significant investment” in its mortgage department.

Furnley House, part of the Superbia financial group, offers a range of services such as wealth management, retirement planning, equity release and mortgage advice to private and corporate clients.

Furnley House founder Neil Haley says: “Ultimately our aim is to become Leicestershire’s premier mortgage adviser. Nicki’s appointment is another major step towards us achieving that goal. In the past we have viewed ourselves primarily as an independent financial adviser that also offered mortgage advice.

“But as demand has increased over the past twelve months it has become abundantly clear that our clients increasingly want mortgage advice too and we have decided to make it a more central part of our offering.”

Thomas adds that she has watched the progress of Furnley House “for many years” and shared the founder’s “vision of what this business can become”.