Roma and VAS expand teams




Roma Finance and VAS Group have bolstered their teams with new hires.

Roma Finance

Roma Finance has made a series of appointments and promotions.

Jack Ainsworth and James Edwards have both been promoted to senior underwriters.

In their new roles, Jack will manage the structured development cases, while James will propel the newly launched RomaFLOW process channel forward.

“I started at Roma as a graduate and have received so much support and training which enabled me to work my way up to underwriter and now senior underwriter,” said Jack.

“Roma placed their trust in me and supported me in building my skills and confidence. 

“The business has changed so much over the last two years and I am really pleased to have been part of the transformation; yet there is more to come.”

In addition, the lender has appointed Adam Gibb as a BDM for the South West and South Wales, and Farah Akhtar as an underwriter.

Adam joins the business from the Specialist Finance Centre, where he was a bridging and commercial specialist.

Meanwhile, Farah, who has seven years of experience in the financial services industry, was previously a underwriter for First 4 Bridging before joining Roma Finance.

Steve Smith, national sales manager at Roma Finance, commented: “I am delighted to welcome every new member to the business and am thrilled with the expansion and promotions in the underwriting teams. 

“We have never been so busy and we are recruiting the finest talent into the business to deliver the best results to our intermediaries partners and their customers.”

VAS Group

VAS Group has appointed David Hughes as valuation audit director for VAS Panel.

In his new role, he will use his technical knowledge and experience with new and existing lenders, financial intermediaries and valuers to reduce property specific lending risks.

He will also undertake auditing services, training, valuation solutions and general advisory services to ensure high standards of due diligence to mitigate risk in all transactions, as well as play a key role in promoting and running VAS Panel’s new project monitoring service.

David, who will also sit on the senior management team, will report to VAS Group’s co-founders, CCO Stephen Todd and COO Gina May.

He will also work closely with his counterpart, Andrew Murdoch, who was appointed valuation panel director for VAS Panel in February this year.

David, who has over 20 years of experience in real estate advisory and property finance, joins VAS Panel from CBRE, where he was head of UK business development.

Prior to this, he held roles at various companies, including Lloyds Banking Group and Cushman & Wakefield.

Commenting on his appointment, David said: “The business offers a unique and unrivalled offering to all types of debt providers, and I’m looking forward to working with our lender, broker and valuation partners to further establish VAS Group as a comprehensive, respected and innovative valuation partner in the UK.”

Stephen added: “David’s unique blend of expertise across valuation, risk, compliance, credit and real estate finance allows him to work with lenders, intermediaries and valuers to promote the absolute best standards across the industry.

“At VAS, we are dedicated to offering our customers a service that is second-to-none, and to attract another of the most prominent and well-respected names in the surveying market confirms that our name is associated with quality, and we will do whatever it takes to deliver on our promises.”

Leave a comment