HSBC has appointed Emma Hollingworth as head of specialist lending, where she will build out its proposition and initially focus on its buy-to-let offering.
Prior to joining HSBC, she was managing director for mortgages at MPowered Mortgages for around a year, and before that distribution director for more than two years.
During her time at MPowered Mortgages, she was “responsible for overseeing the company’s inception, end-to-end delivery for customers and intermediaries and the development of an automated mortgage application process”.
Hollingworth was sales and marketing director at Bluestone Mortgages for nearly a year and before that worked at Mortgage Advice Bureau (MAB) for nearly three years, eventually as strategic partnership director and mortgage sales director at Intrinsic Financial Services for over eight years before that.
Andrew Matson, interim director of mortgage lending at HSBC UK, said: “We are delighted to welcome Emma to our team. Her extensive experience and proven track record in the mortgage market make her the perfect fit for this role. We are confident that under her leadership, our specialist lending division will play a pivotal role in our continued success.”
Hollingworth added: “I am looking forward to leveraging my expertise to expand and enhance our specialist lending proposition for our customers. It is an exciting opportunity to build on the banks strategic priorities and I am committed to ensuring our specialist lending team achieves new success – particularly in an area so crucial to the market.”
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.
