Vida Homeloans is considering staff redundancies as part of a strategic review, as the firm aims to beef up its “intermediary experience” and improve access to underwriters.  

The specialist lender says as a result of its review “a number of roles have been identified as being potentially at risk of redundancy and Vida has therefore entered a 30-day consultation period with colleagues potentially impacted by the planned changes”.  

It says the process should be completed by the end of November, with affected staff being given “priority consideration” for other suitable roles in the business.  

The firm says the review comes as it looks to shift its operating model, which includes changes to the way the company organises intermediary-facing teams.   

It adds the move includes “a thorough assessment of the existing sales and relationship structures” and will also “focus on “best-in-class decisioning with improved underwriter access”.  

Belmont Green and Vida Homeloans chief executive Anth Mooney says: “The Covid-19 pandemic had a huge impact on the mortgage market, in terms of how people are interacting and the speed at which responses are required.   

“This has been particularly true of the way brokers work with mortgage lenders when seeking solutions for their clients. As complex cases become more frequent, brokers need to know they can access decision-makers capable of giving answers quickly.   

“For us to do this brilliantly, we need to modernise our approach, prioritising our resources to provide the help and decision support our brokers and partners tell us they need.”  

“Our people are clearly very important to us and we do not take such decisions lightly. For those colleagues whose roles may be impacted, we will be working with them to identify any suitable roles within the business and to give them priority.”    

Vida Homeloans adds that it continues to progress with its plans to obtain authorisation to operate as a retail bank from the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority, a move it began at the end of last year.  

The firm says the move which will allow it to compete more effectively with the other bank lenders in the specialist mortgage market.