Cornerstone Finance Group

Cornerstone Finance Group has promoted Phil Emanuel as group business development director.

Phil — who joined the company back in November 2018 — has over 32 years of experience working in sales roles in the UK finance and insurance sectors.

In his new role, he will be responsible for increasing the company’s network of appointed representatives and registered individuals.

“The Cornerstone Finance Group has grown significantly over the past few years and there is a huge opportunity for us to increase the size of our network across the UK,” said Phil.

Michael Wayman, CEO at Cornerstone Finance Group, commented: “Phil’s appointment marks another important addition to the Cornerstone family, and we’re excited to have him taking our attractive network proposition to market.”

Signature Property Finance

Signature Property Finance has appointed Steve Woods as a relationship manager for the North West of England.

In his new role, he will help promote the lender’s product offering across the region.

Steve joins Signature from Alternative Bridging Corporation, where he worked as a business development manager.

Prior to this, he held roles at Oblix Capital and Bridgebank Capital.

Steve commented: “I’m excited to be joining a business with a clearly defined and pragmatic growth strategy, with ambition to match. 

“I believe the new and varied range of products  gives us a competitive edge in the market, which is good news for Signature and brokers.  

“It will be good to get back onto building plots to understand the vision of the developers and explain how Signature can shape a loan to their exact needs to help solve the UK’s housing crisis, one small development at a time. 

“As lockdown ends and we return to some semblance of normality, I hope to get out and meet with brokers and developers, confident my experience will help Signature achieve the stretching targets it has set for 2021.”

Paul Tromans, sales director at Signature Property Finance, added: “This appointment not only demonstrates the ambition of Signature Property Finance, but the calibre of experienced individuals we can attract with our growing reputation and products that deliver what property professionals actually want.  

“Steve was the ideal choice, given his experience in development finance and his reputation in the North West, where we expect to undertake a lot more work in the coming months, particularly with so much optimism for ground-up development opportunities across the region.”

Hodge Bank

Hodge Bank has hired Cara Thompson and Alan Crawley as telephony business development managers.

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In their new roles, Cara will cover the Welsh M4 corridor, while Alan will be in charge of London and the South East.

Prior to this, Cara worked as a mortgage broker specialising in the new-build space and, before that, spent time at Redrow Homes and Principality Building Society.

Alan — who has 18 years of experience in financial services — has worked for numerous companies, including Barclays, Intelligent Loans and, most recently, Pink Pig Loans.

Emma Graham, business development director at Hodge Bank, said: “I’m delighted to welcome Cara and Alan to the team. 

“Both have a solid track record in managing intermediary relationships which will be invaluable in their new positions.

“Developing effective and sustainable relationships with our brokers is key, which is why we pair up field and telephony BDMs to give brokers a more tailored and responsive service. 

“We have also increased capacity across our underwriting team with three new hires since the beginning of the year to ensure we can sustain our servicing capabilities.”

VAS Group

VAS Group has appointed Andrew Murdoch as a valuation panel director.

In his new position, Andrew — who is a chartered surveyor and RICS-registered valuer and property receiver — will maintain and grow the relationship between the company and its existing valuation panel with a remit to refresh and add new firms where necessary.

He will also provide technical valuation advice to support both the VAS Audit and VAS Panel teams.

Possessing over 20 years of banking and surveying experience, Andrew joins from Bradley Hall Chartered Surveyors, where he was a director.

Before that, he worked as head of valuation at Together and has undertaken year-long secondments in the recoveries teams at two UK high street banks.

“Having worked closely with VAS Group as a client since its formation and latterly as a panel member, I have had first-hand experience of the first-class service provided and the quality control procedures which protect their clients’ interests,” said Andrew.

“I am joining the group at an exciting time and am looking forward to reacquainting myself with a number of the valuation panel firms, as well as introducing new relationships.”

Stephen Todd, co-founder at VAS Group, added: “An exemplary valuation panel is at the very core of our business; it is critical in ensuring we can deliver a world-class service to lenders by providing market-leading valuation reports on which loan security decisions can be soundly made.

“Andrew brings a wealth of unique knowledge and experience and comprehensively understands risk from both a lender’s and valuer’s perspective, adding significant value to our proposition.”