Skipton Building Society has appointed long-serving business development manager (BDM) Rachael Hunnisett to the newly-created role of national account lead.
The role is part of the mutual’s growth plans to become a top ten lender and Hunnisett will report to Skipton’s head of business development Paul Fenn. In her role, she will also oversee the lender’s new build proposition.
She will be based in Ashford, Kent.
Hunnissett has worked at Skipton since 2017 as its BDM for London and the South East. During her tenure she has helped launch Skipton’s national webinar series which has had over 6,740 registrations in both its spring and summer series.
She also won Skipton’s BDM and colleague of the year and is also a member of the lender’s diversity and inclusion sounding board.
Hunnissett has worked in the mortgage industry since 2013, starting out as a mortgage broker.
Hunnissett said: “I am passionate about the mortgage intermediary market and dedicated to the value that we bring to real people’s lives through our work and I am committed to promote inclusion and making financial services accessible and representative of the communities we serve.”
“I love that in this industry we openly embrace change, there are so many exciting things on the horizon in the mortgage sector from product innovation to technology disruptors to modern methods of construction.
“Wherever you look there is something new to see. It’s a great time be involved in the UK mortgage market, we are all so very lucky,” she added.
Anna is currently the deputy editor for Mortgage Solutions and editor for Specialist Lending Solutions. She has worked as a journalist since 2019, having secured her Gold Standard NCTJ diploma from News Associates in a fast-track six-month course.
She started her career as a report at specialist publication The Insurance Insider covering a wide range of areas before joining Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions in 2021.
In her role, she helps put together and structure the news agenda for the day and writes up press releases, reports, interviews, analyses and exclusives across both titles. She also commissions blogs for Specialist Lending Solutions and hosts online masterclasses and in-person events across the business.
She has been shortlisted for three journalism awards, which include BIBA Journalist and Media Awards Scoop of Year Award in 2020, Headline Money Mortgage Journalist of the Year Award (B2B) in 2022 and 2023.
Prior to being a journalist, Anna worked in ecommerce across Snow + Rock, Cycle Surgery and Runners Need websites, and before that worked at specialist financial PR firm Rostrum.
In her spare time, Anna enjoys reading, seeing live music, and cooking for friends and family. When she gets a chance, she also enjoys hiking, skiing and indoor rock climbing.