A spokesperson said Sharp would be leaving the business in the coming months “to explore other opportunities”.
The intermediary sales teams will be under one management structure headed by Sarah Green, director of intermediary sales at Virgin Money. She will also be part of the mortgage leadership team.
According to Andrew Asaam, director of mortgages and life insurance at Virgin Money, (pictured) there will be a “small number” of role reductions to make the division the right size, but it will maintain the same broker coverage going forward.
Furthermore, CYBG announced in a statement yesterday that some 330 jobs would be affected by the merger, with this expected to be across the wider business including its brand marketing and retail operations.
Mainstream and complex cases
Asaam said the merging of the Virgin Money and Clydesdale Bank intermediary divisions would “enhance the broker experience” by simplifying the process.
Two divisions are also set to be launched, Virgin Money Everyday for mainstream cases and Virgin Money Expert for complex cases.
Asaam added that the intermediary merger would streamline the current process whereby brokers consult both sales teams for the same products by giving them a “single point of contact” within the two heritage businesses.
“We’d have at least one dedicated contact for all brokers going forward that will be able to cover both Clydesdale and Virgin Money products and give brokers access to the great Virgin Money service or the Clydesdale flexibility,” he said.
CYBG, the parent company of Clydesdale, acquired Virgin Money in October last year in a £1.7bn takeover.
In what was described as a “natural evolution of bringing the two businesses together”, the merged intermediary service is set to be up and running by the end of the year while the Clydesdale mortgage business will be fully under the Virgin Money brand by 2021.
Furthermore, Asaam said “significant investments” will continue to be made to develop the company’s product offering for brokers.
He added: “This bringing together of the intermediary sales teams is a step on that journey, there will be a rebranding as well so it’s all coming under the Virgin Money brand over time. It’s all part of that bigger process.”
