Specialist mortgage lender Vida has appointed Richard Tugwell as director of mortgage distribution, as it looks to boost growth “with a series of significant product and service improvements over the next few months”.

Thirty-year veteran Tugwell joins Vida following almost four years at rival specialist lender Together, where he was group intermediate relationship director until January.

Tugwell has previously worked as Virgin Money as director of intermediaries and is a former director of the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association.

Staines-based Vida says he replaces Louisa Sedgwick, who leaves the business at the end of March, “to take up a new role in the autumn”.

Vida chief executive Anth Mooney says: “We are investing to improve our products, pricing and service levels to take advantage of the growing specialist market post-Covid and, having worked closely with Richard for over 20 years, I know that there is no-one better equipped to help us deliver our growth ambitions.”

Tugwell adds he is looking forward to working again in “the in specialist lending sector [which] is an important and growing part of the wider mortgage market”.

Earlier this month, Vida cut rates across its buy-to-let range by up to 40 basis points.

Cuts included the Vida 1 houses in multiple occupation/multi-unit block range, where a 40 basis point cut sees the 70 per cent loan to value two-year fix start at 3.29 per cent.