Newcastle Building Society has appointed Michelle Ash (pictured) as its national account manager, having worked at the mutual for over a year as a business development manager for the South West and Home Counties.
Prior to joining Newcastle Building Society she was a corporate key account manager at Metro Bank for just over a year and before that she was a business development manager (BDM) at Virgin Money for nearly four years.
She also worked at Peter Alan as a mortgage broker for three years and held roles at Principality Building Society and Bradford and Bingley.
Newcastle Building Society’s intermediary mortgages head Franco Di Pietro, who recently took over from John Truswell, said: “We’re delighted that Michelle has stepped up to become our new national account manager.
“She has a fantastic relationship with brokers across the UK and as she’s already done this role we knew that she was a perfect fit. We can’t wait to see how she really makes the role her own.”
The lender has made a number of changes to its offerings recently, including reducing rates in its high loan to value products and buy-to-let range, refreshing its product transfer range and re-entering the large loan market.
It has also launched a range of 95 per cent LTV products for the government’s First Homes scheme.
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.
