Richard Merrett has been appointed managing director of mortgage broker Alexander Hall.

He replaces Tom Davies who resigned today (29 November) after being poached by Leaders Romans Group (LRG).

Merrett, who began his career at Alexander Hall, will start in his new role on 2 January.

He rejoins the firm from SimplyBiz Mortgages where he is currently director of strategic relationships.

Merrett has worked for the Foxtons Group-owned mortgage broker for over 14 years, most recently as technical director.

He then spent two years as managing director of specialist mortgage advisory firm largemortgageloans.com before moving to Simply Biz where he sat on the Mortgages Senior Management and Fintel Group Performance Leadership teams.

Merrett was responsible for helping to shape and create the future direction of the mortgage club, working on propositional development with lenders and intermediary member firms.

He is currently a Board Member for the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI) and chairs the Steering Committee for the Mortgage Climate Action Group (MCAG).

Commenting on his appointment, Richard Merrett said: “I am delighted to be rejoining Alexander Hall and thrilled to be given the opportunity to lead this great business and wonderful team to drive further progress. The foundations that have been laid and the opportunities for further innovations to drive revenue are significant. I spent the first 14 years of my mortgage career here, so it very much feels like I am coming home. Helping people to own a home is a great privilege and the value of advice has never been more important, I look forward to us collectively assisting many more mortgage borrowers with excellent customer service.”