Glenhawk hires commercial director and head of mortgage operations

Michael Clifford (pictured) takes on the role of commercial director and will manage the launch and roll-out of the lender’s products. This includes market evaluation, proposition development and product strategy.

He joins from Hodge where he worked for nearly four years, most recently as head of commercial propositions.

Prior to that he worked at Santander for around four years in various senior roles and Sovereign Bank for around two years.

Simon Lee becomes head of mortgage operations and will report directly to chief operating officer Damani Johnson to work with head of technology Robert Kelly.

He will help the firm enter the specialist long-term secured space, and simultaneously deliver ‘class-leading’ systems and customer service.

Lee joins from Premium Credit, where he spent three years as head of underwriting leading a 25-strong team.

Lee was head of secured credit at Lendable for just under a year, following a period as head of underwriting at Optimum Credit.

Jude Miranda has been appointed bridging credit manager where he will oversee all loan underwriting as well as manage the team of underwriters and case workers. He will report to managing director Nick Hilton.

He previously worked at Masthaven, with roles at Hampshire Trust Bank, Shawbrook Bank and Saffron Building Society on his CV.

Sarah Wade will be the head of marketing and joins from Foundation Home Loans where she held the same role.

Before that she worked at Kensington Mortgages as a senior channel marketing manager and worked at GE Money Home Lending in various roles.

Guy Harrington, chief executive of Glenhawk, said attracting the best talent was critical in ensuring it could “continue to innovate and deliver best in-class-client service”.

He that the firm had enjoyed a strong first-half of the year, as the buoyant housing market and differentiated product proposition underpinned record lending. He added that enquiries for its new regulated range had increased by 300 per cent in May, as an example.

“In particular, we look to Michael, Simon, Sarah and Jude’s experience to ensure we have all the tools at our disposal to build on our most recent launch success, as we progress other exciting growth initiatives,” Harrington noted.