Step One bolsters lending team in growth push

Khan joined from mortgage servicer Target Group where he was sales director for the past two years. Before that he worked as business development director at asset manager Paratus AMC after founding the Mortgage Trading Consultancy in 2007.

Khan’s financial services experience spans 30 years , covering mortgage broking, origination, banking, trading and third party servicing.

In his new role he will support Step One’s imminent growth plans after the firm received an undisclosed amount of funding from a group of investors in May.

The firm said at the time it was looking to expand its second charge offering, as well as “explore other specialist lending opportunities with similar characteristics” but would not give further details.

Step One CEO Michael Childress said: “It is fantastic to have someone of Steve’s calibre join the Step One team. Steve has broad experience which has touched most segments of the UK mortgage market over the last 30 years and is ideally positioned to contribute to Step One’s expansion and growth plans.”

Khan added: “I believe this is a unique and critical time in the UK lending market in which Step One is well positioned to participate and innovate. It is a fortuitous moment to join the team and I look forward to the many opportunities ahead.”

Khan’s appointment followed a string of hirings at the firm in recent months. In July it hired former Lloyds Bank compliance officer Amber Saghir as risk analyst with a focus on regulatory compliance in risk and operations.

It also appointed Nathan Lewis as a trainee underwriter and Bethany Hudson as an accounting apprentice. Step One said it was expecting to make additional hires over the coming months.