Together has appointed commercial lending expert Steve Luty (pictured) as its corporate development director. He joins from Nationwide, where he was head of business centres, managing a large team and overseeing commercial property lending in the North and Midlands.

Luty will handle client relationships for Together’s lending operation, focusing on the commercial and buy-to-let markets.

He said: “My aim is to continue to enhance Together’s position as a leader in the specialist finance industry. The business has more than 40 years of successful trading; providing finance to markets underserved by mainstream lenders and it’s a really exciting prospect to be joining Together at this time, as it continues to reshape what we think of as traditional financial services.”

Chris Baguley, commercial director at Together, added: “We’ve recently announced plans for the expansion of our business into 33,000 square-foot offices, the issuing of a £200m seven-year bond, and a raft of product enhancements to improve our offering to customers. These moves clearly signal our intentions to grow the business even more in the near future and we’re pleased to have Steve on board as part of our commercial team.”

Meanwhile, BFS has appointed corporate and commercial banking specialist Lee Gilmore as consultant.

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Formerly a relationship director at HSBC, Gilmore will support the business development team, raising the profile of the business in the North West and identifying new business opportunities. Headquartered in Merseyside, BFS is looking to grow lending across the UK.

Gilmore said: “It’s a really interesting time in the banking and lending industries where we’re seeing bridging playing a more important role in the economy by permitting asset rich and temporarily cash poor individuals to make progress and buy time. By educating the professional sector (banks, accountants, solicitors), bridging can provide a quick and temporary fix for their clients and help them cement their client relationships.”

Steve Barber, managing director at BFS, added: “Lee joining the BFS team is a definite coup for us. He is a well-established and recognised figure within the North West banking sector and his experience, contacts and wider understanding will undoubtedly support us in terms of our ambitious future growth plans.”