Together appoints Oliver as corporate portfolio director

He will report to Alex Garland, head of corporate lending and portfolio at Together.

Oliver joins from Santander, where he worked for around four years as senior director real estate, and before that, he was director of credit for three years.

Prior to that, he was senior manager at Nab for nearly seven years, and before that, he was at Bank of Scotland for around 11 years.

Garland said: “We’re delighted to welcome Russell to the Together team. His reputation for his expert knowledge is known across the real estate finance market, and he will be a great asset to the company, helping Together grow across Yorkshire, and the North.

“Russell’s experience, combined with our values and vision as a relationship lender, will play a big part in building our presence across the corporate real estate market.

“Having only joined a few weeks ago, Russell has shown his dedication supporting our corporate team as we continue to work towards our goal of becoming the most valued lending company in the UK.”

Oliver added: “After nearly 30 years of working in mainstream banking, I am looking forward to taking on a new challenge in helping Together expand across the corporate real estate market. Together takes a relationship-first approach to its customers, and this is a mentality I am keen to be a part of.

“Its flexible approach to lending means I’ll be able to support a wide range of businesses achieve their property ambitions in ways I perhaps wouldn’t have been able to do previously, and I’m looking forward to introducing Together to my network over the next couple of months.”

In an interview with this publication, Together’s chief commercial officer Ryan Etchells said that the firm had headroom to grow and it had ambition to do so.