West One Loans will employ Hubbard to monitor service times to ensure it continues to offer brokers the service they need to complete loans in the shortest possible time. He will also develop the West One Loans valuer panel, and guarantee it covers all postcodes across the UK.

Ben Hubbard said, "I'm looking forward to helping West One and their investors assess the risks associated with each of their loans.  I'll be going to look at properties on their behalf on a case-by-case basis and putting my experience in nationwide possession sales and valuation auditing to good use.  I'm also going to work closely with West One to help establish and manage their surveyor panel."

Duncan Kreeger, chairman of West One Loans said, “I pride myself that West One Loans does deals fast, and I am prepared to put my money where my mouth is. We’ve already got one experienced administrator for every person signing off a loan - which is about double the industry average. This is a further mark of our commitment. Oakes CPS have a lot of experience in assessing the real value of property and its saleability and with Ben visiting properties, he’ll be able to make sure the valuer is doing their job properly.”

Hubbard, who joined Oakes CPS in March 2007 and gained underwriting experience at Cheltenham & Gloucester, is currently employed by West One Loans on a case-by-case basis to either attend property they may be lending on or to carry out desktop valuations.

David Williams, the risk and recovery director of Oakes CPS said, “West One clearly appreciates the value of our services and Ben’s secondment will add a “belt and braces” approach to their already robust procedures.”

West One Loans is a specialist provider of short term bridging finance for residential and commercial properties. Established in 2008, the company is now one of the biggest privately funded lenders in the UK, having completed deals in excess of £100 million to date.