Just Mortgages has appointed Ben Allkins to the new role of head of mortgages and protection for its self-employed division.

The brokerage says the post will see Allkins manage the strategic direction of the unit, help improve the efficiency of the team, and support the firm’s brokers to deliver the best advice available.

The business plans to invest investing more than £1m over the next year to upgrade the support systems the department uses.

It adds: “Allkins role will be to oversee this investment to ensure it delivers the maximum positive impact for brokers.

“With both first-hand experience of being a broker and hands-on experience managing the Just Mortgages’ self-employed team, Allkins mix of industry knowledge and people skills make him ideal for the role.”

The business comprises more than 560 mortgage advisers who either work on an employed or self-employed basis.

Allkins has worked at the broker firm for five years, as a regional director and before that as an area director. He has more than 20 years of experience in the mortgage market.

He says: “The self-employed division only succeeds if our brokers are successful, so my role is to ensure we invest in areas that make tangible differences for our team.

“While the self-employed team at Just Mortgages already receives industry-leading support, we will look at all the pinch points where we can improve and make changes to make our broker’s lives easier.

“We will certainly continue to grow in the next few years, but one of our key aims is to make sure our team is working as efficiently as possible.

“From admin support to developing state of the art customer relationship management systems, we work closely with our brokers to help them maximise their time advising clients.”

Last month, the firm said it would train 120 new advisers over the coming year at its broker academy.

It said its ten academies will accommodate around twelve trainee brokers, who will be taught such skills as developing an understanding of sales, building rapport with customers and effective questioning to understand client’s needs.

The firm added that it usually receives 1,000 applications for each academy.