As the nation adapts to another lockdown, intermediary lenders are recruiting and making changes to their teams to best assist brokers in the current working environment.
Accord Mortgages has appointed 26 new team members across its sales and underwriting teams.
The lender says that the additions are needed to maintain service levels in 2021.
The sales team will be increased with two new business development advisers who will be supporting the webchat function and supporting brokers with queries on new business applications.
Accord is also recruiting three new telephone business development managers to help support brokers in more areas of the UK. The roles will be home-based and the successful applicants will be responsible for managing broker relationships via telephone, email and webchat.
The lender is also recruiting 21 new underwriters over the coming weeks.
Accord managing director Jeremy Duncombe says: “Our focus, both before the pandemic and during, has been about supporting brokers to the best of our ability and increasing capacity is key to sustaining our service capabilities.
“The last year has demonstrated that technology has improved processes, with webchat being a prime example of responding quickly and effectively to broker queries. Working remotely has also been incredibly successful and so we are confident the new TBDM roles can be performed from across the UK.
“We remain fully committed to face-to-face meetings with our brokers and key lending partners, however the efficiencies we’ve seen by working from home will also help evolve our BDM role to balance virtual and, when it is safe to do so, physical meetings.”
Halifax Intermediaries and Scottish Widows Bank are expanding their business development manager teams.
From 11 January, field and office-based BDMs will be brought together; the BDM team increase by two to 44 and the telephone BDM team will grow by one to 26, led by five regional managers.
Halifax Intermediaries and Scottish Widows Bank head Ian Wilson says: “Now more than ever, providing the right support to intermediaries where and when they need it is our priority.
“Growing our BDM teams and supporting both Halifax and Scottish Widows Bank in one team helps us stay in great shape to help intermediaries continue to meet the needs of their customers.”
Precise Mortgages, Kent Reliance for Intermediaries and InterBay Commercial sales teams, have been restructured to better support intermediary partners.
As a result of this, field-based BDMs, a newly created intermediary sales development department and the specialist finance team will report into group sales director Adrian Moloney. The corporate account team, which manages the relationship with mortgage clubs and mortgage networks, will report into group distribution director Roger Morris.
Simon Cockerill has been appointed as head of intermediary sales development across all lending brands to develop and lead an enhanced telephony and web based service that will assist field based BDMs and improve the contact strategy to support broker partners.
Emily Machin takes on a new role as head of specialist finance, leading the bridging, second charge and commercial lending sales teams for Precise Mortgages and InterBay Commercial.
Liza Campion is now head of corporate accounts for all lending brands and is responsible for all senior relationships with mortgage club and mortgage network partners, while James Forth and Alan Kimber will take up wider national sales manager roles, with Forth managing the BDM team for Precise Mortgages and Kimber managing the BDM team for Kent Reliance for Intermediaries.
Meanwhile, specialist lender Octane Capital has hired Mark Stephenson and Hattie Hall on its sales team.
Hall, previously a senior case manager at MT Finance, joins Octane as an internal BDM and will report into Oli Greenspan, head of marketing and internal sales.
Stephenson joins Octane as an external BDM and will report into Liam Lawlor, sales director. Prior to Octane, Stephenson worked as a BDM at Castle Trust and, before that, Borro, where he was a senior account manager.
