The later life lending specialist has hired Samantha Ward in the newly created role of head of proposition strategy and development.
Ward initially joined Livemore as a financial services consultant in September and has now permanently joined the firm.
Prior to Livemore, she had worked at Dudley Building Society since 2001, initially working as a mortgage assistant and working her way up to head of lending in 2016, head of commercial in 2018 and then commercial director in 2020.
Livemore has been growing its team, recently appointing Les Pick as its director of intermediary sales.
It has also appointed Nicola Palmer as key account manager for the South West and Lisa Kemp as a telephone business development manager (BDM).
The lender has also introduced 100 per cent debt consolidation on mortgages up to £1m, widened its property criteria and lowered rates by up to 0.71 per cent.
Leon Diamond, CEO of Livemore, said: “I’m thrilled to welcome Samantha to Livemore as our new head of proposition strategy and development. Samantha’s two decades of expertise will help drive us towards greater innovation and customer-centric solutions, while her vision and strategic leadership skills will also be invaluable.
“We are excited to embark on this new journey with Samantha, as we continue to empower our clients to keep living the life they love through our tailored mortgage solutions.”
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.
