HTB appoints deputy managing director for development finance

Kuzmis joins from Octopus Group, where she worked for seven years, most recently as head of development finance (light). 

Prior to that, she worked for Israeli bank Bank Mizrahi-Tefahot for more than 10 years. She spent five of those years based in London as the bank’s property finance account relationship manager. 

Kuzmis will report into Alex Upton, managing director, development finance at HTB. The division has seen some changes in recent months, including the appointments of four lending directors to cover various regions.

HTB’s Upton: ‘Add quality, add quality and add quality’

Kuzmis (pictured) said she was thrilled to be joining HTB, adding: “From the beginning, I could see so much potential within the development finance division. We have a large team of talented and driven individuals who all strive to deliver an exceptional customer journey experience.  

“I always look beyond the ‘what’ and the ‘who’ – and right now I want to focus on the ‘how’. I strongly believe that, especially in these challenging and uncertain times, a lender should be there for its clients and strive to do the right thing in the right manner. And I see this within HTB.” 

Upton said: “When building a team, I have three basic rules – add quality, add quality, and add quality. It’s fair to say that Uliana ticks all those boxes. We have some ambitious growth plans for the business but I am confident that with Uliana in the team we can achieve our targets.   

“Uliana has extensive experience of the UK development finance marketplace and the fact that she has worked across a range of roles means she is ideally suited for success within this new position in the division.”