Hampshire Trust Bank has appointed Mia House to lead its internal business development team as it looks to give more brokers direct access to its specialist mortgages and bridging finance business.
House (pictured) returns to HTB as head of internal BDMs after previously spending more than seven years with the bank across its specialist mortgages and bridging finance divisions.
She will report to Andrea Glasgow, sales director, specialist mortgages and bridging finance, while internal business development manager Alex Klimcke will report to House. HTB plans to expand the internal team further.
BROKER SUPPORT
The function will work alongside HTB’s regional BDM team and will focus particularly on intermediaries who have had less previous contact with the bank.
Its remit will include discussing potential cases with brokers, explaining HTB’s lending proposition and providing a regular point of contact as intermediaries develop their relationship with the lender.
House was previously senior business development director at HTB before moving into other roles in specialist property finance. These included sales director at Century Capital and director, short term finance origination at Maslow Capital.
Glasgow says: “Mia coming back to HTB is a real positive for us. She knows the business and the broker market extremely well, but she is also returning with broader experience and a fresh perspective.
“We already have a strong regional sales team out in the market. This is about making it easier for brokers who may not know HTB as well to have a direct conversation with us, understand where we can help and start building that relationship.
“The internal team gives brokers someone they can speak to regularly, whether that is to talk through a case, get a clearer sense of where we fit or simply understand more about how we work. In a market with more specialist lenders and propositions than ever, making those conversations straightforward and useful really matters.”
House says: “Coming back to HTB feels like the right move at the right time. I know the business well, but the experience I have gained across different parts of specialist property finance has given me a wider perspective on distribution, broker relationships and what genuinely makes a lender easier to work with.
“What excites me about this role is the opportunity to build something and work with brokers who may be less familiar with HTB. I want us to understand their businesses and the cases they are seeing, make those early conversations genuinely useful and take things forward from there.”
Alex Upton, managing director, specialist mortgages and bridging finance at HTB, says: “There is no shortage of choice in the specialist market, but choice does not necessarily make a broker’s job easier. With more lenders and increasingly varied propositions, knowing who to speak to, where a case fits and how a lender works can make a real difference.
“Relationships have always been fundamental to the way we work at HTB. Brokers need access to people who understand the market, can have a useful conversation about a case and can give them a clear sense of where we can help.
“Developing the internal BDM function gives more brokers a direct route into HTB, alongside the relationships already being supported by our regional team.
“Mia knows the way we work, brings valuable experience from elsewhere in the market and will play an important role in shaping what comes next. We are very pleased to have her back.”
