Glenhawk hires credit policy head

In his role as head of credit policy at Glenhawk, Butt will support the development and launch of the lender’s new products, which include an “innovative buy-to-let offering”.

He will report directly to Damani Johnson, chief operating officer (COO), and will be based in London. Butt will oversee credit policy across the lender’s existing and future product ranges.

Butt will work with the underwriting and sales teams to “further refine the lending process”, such as improving the loan application process though helping with complex enquiries, approving high loan requests and agreeing policy exemptions.

He joins from Belmont Green Finance, which is the parent company for Foundation Home Loans, where he worked for nearly four years as head of credit policy and senior policy manager.

Before that, he was quality assurance consultant at Lloyds Bank for around six years, and before that, was head of credit at 5D Finance.

Guy Harrington, CEO of Glenhawk, said: “John’s proven track record establishing credit policies and successfully advising on portfolio transactions and complex credit situations will be essential as we look to put in place the systems and processes to successfully launch new products later this year.

“Delivering on our growth ambitions will require us to qualify an even higher volume of applications, whilst maintaining the highest standards of client service, and John’s appointment is key to ensuring we have the necessary infrastructure to achieve this.”

Butt added: “Glenhawk has firmly established itself as a market leader in the UK bridging sector, marrying an entrepreneurial and innovative approach with institutional style practices. As the macroeconomic backdrop improves, I’m hugely excited to be joining the talented team with responsibility for driving continued excellence across what is already a very strong credit policy function.”

The lender said that it had funding in place to “support significantly larger lending capacity”, and its product expansion plans builds on changes it made to its unregulated and regulated product range in February.