Specialist 1st hires Hardy as senior adviser

She was most recently head of networks at Somo for over a year, and before that was the joint owner and director of Transform Mortgages for over a year.

Before that, she was a mortgage, equity release and bridging adviser for around half a year, and prior to that, she was a regional sales manager for Smart Mortgage for under a year.

She was previously a case manager for over three years at Fluent Money and was a mortgage adviser at Nationwide Building Society for nearly 13 years.

Specialist 1^st is the specialist lending arm of Mortgage 1^st and was launched in January this year. The brand will advise directly on complex buy-to-let (BTL), adverse credit, second charge lending, commercial purchases, development finance and bridging finance.

Jon Stones, managing director of Mortgage 1st, said: “We are absolutely delighted to welcome Nicola to Specialist 1st. Initial discussions to launch our own specialist brand began over two years ago, always with the intention to bring in someone to head up the brand with the experience levels that Nicola possesses.

“In addition to a wealth of specialist lending experience, Nicola shares the same core values that we hold on to dearly at Mortgage 1st – essentially, always doing the right thing by our customers. The customer is always at the heart of what we do, and our approach to specialist lending will be no different.

“Nicola will help shape the brand and also provide essential support and guidance to the existing Mortgage 1st advisers that will also be advising under Specialist 1st.”

Hardy said: “When approached to discuss this opportunity with Specialist 1st, the timing felt right to go back into a self-employed role that I have a true passion to do. What stood out at the initial discussion was how much Mortgage 1st care about their customers and how proactive they are throughout the mortgage journey.

“I strongly feel that advisers need access to specialist finance products more than ever before, even more so after the introduction of Consumer Duty – all mortgage advisers have a duty of care to be considering second charge mortgages when looking at customers’ overall circumstances to ensure the right advice is being given.”

She continued: “We are fully focused on helping to bring second charge mortgages to the forefront of the market, along with our fellow second charge advisers. I think it’s time for our industry to shine and truly get the recognition it deserves.”