The Northview Group, whose brands include the Kensington, New Street, and Acenden, has appointed Mark Arnold to the role of the group’s chief executive officer.
Arnold will take on the role on 10 April 2018, and will replace Amany Attia, who announced her retirement in June 2017.
Previously, Arnold was executive in residence at private equity firm Centerbridge Partners, and had spent 18 years with GE Capital in a variety of senior management level roles.
Tim Breedon, executive chairman at the Northview Group, commented: “Mark’s broad experience will be key to supporting our strategy of continued mortgage lending growth, which through brands like Kensington Mortgages has been supporting underserved customers for over 23 years.
“We look forward to welcoming Mark on board in April.”
Arnold added: “Northview Group brands have built a great reputation in the specialist lending market over many years. The group has had a fantastic year and I am confident that my experience from around the globe will further support the ambitious growth plans that we have.”
Simplybiz
Makayla Everitt (pictured) has been promoted to a newly created position of head of mortgages at Simplybiz.
Everitt joined Simplybiz in May 2012 as head of business development after a previous role at Natwest.
She is responsible for the growth and strategic direction of the business and will continue to report to the Martin Reynolds, chief executive officer of Simplybiz Mortgages.
Reynolds commented: “Makayala has been with the business for nearly six years and during this time she has been instrumental in the growth of its proposition.
“Her focus on enhancing our members’ business opportunities whilst keeping them and their clients protected with our compliance proposition has been well received.”
Aldermore
Aldermore has appointed Sue Hayes to the newly created position of group managing director, retail finance.
Hayes joined in June, and will now be responsible to managing the bank’s existing mortgages and savings businesses, as well as looking for expansion into new areas.
She was previously managing director of premier and community segments and savings products at Barclays. Prior to the Barclays role, Hayes worked at Santander, RBS, and Halifax Bank of Scotland, where she held various senior roles across retail and commercial banking.
Phillip Monks, chief executive officer of Aldermore, said: “Aldermore has established itself as a key supporter of professional landlords and homeowners that do not fit the cookie cutter approach of many providers, with our award-winning savings proposition offering competitive rates over the long term.
“Going forward, we aim to broaden our offering, further helping individuals to achieve their goals, and Sue’s experience and knowledge will play a key role in our future development.
“The business is well positioned in providing mortgages to customers who are overlooked by mainstream lenders, such as the self-employed, contractors or independent workers, who are an increasing part of the UK working population.”
The rebrand has seen Keith Street, head of Kensington Mortgages (pictured), appointed to the role of vice chairman across the group.
New Street Mortgages is scheduled to launch early this year, with former managing director of intermediary channel at Barclays, David Finley, due to head up the launch.
A spokesman for Kensington confirmed that the new lender would offer a broad range of products with a particular focus on technology. Distribution will initially be limited to intermediaries, with the majority of brokers expected to receive access to the products by the second half of 2016.
Amany Attia, chief executive of The Northview Group, said: “We are very excited to announce the launch of The Northview Group. We expect this new brand will provide a terrific platform to support the growth of Kensington and Acenden, allowing us to bring innovation, insight and transparency to the mortgage market.
“As a group we are fortunate to benefit from the experience and consistency of companies with a 20 year history of innovating and serving the market, alongside the backing and ambition of the management team and shareholders.”
Earlier this year, private equity partners Blackstone Tactical Opportunities and TPG Special Situations Partners completed the buyout of Kensington for £180m.
At the time, Street hinted that the lender was looking to push the expansion of its specialist lending portfolio.
It has been an astonishing year in mortgage, advice and housing market news – with the Chancellor making life hard for buy-to-let investors, lenders preparing for the Mortgage Credit Directive (MCD), and the Bank of England’s failure to raise rates to just name a few.
In case you missed the stories with the most website hits, we’ve compiled a list of Mortgage Solutions’ 20 most popular stories in the last 12 months.
Let the countdown begin…
20. Wealthy landlords flock to Barclays after buy-to-let shake up
06/08/15
Wealthy property investors took advantage of Barclays’ changes to its buy-to-let criteria, allowing borrowers to use disposable income to bolster the rent calculation.
19. Ex-BDM delivers harsh market realities – Star Letter
04/09/15
One of the most read Star Letters included a comment from an ex-BDM on the relationship between the BDM and the underwriter.
18. Pros and cons of using limited companies for buy-to-let – Marketwatch
05/08/15
Mortgage Solutions’ panel of experts gave their views on the pros and cons of using limited companies for buy-to-let to ease the burden of income tax.
17. Self-employed evidence must be bolstered – Santander
23/06/15
Graham Sellar, head of business development for mortgages at Santander, explained why more lenders require all self-employed mortgage applicants provide SA302s as evidence of income to also provide a tax year overview.
16. Mayor of London announces two first-time buyer schemes
06/01/15
The Greater London Authority announced its intention to fund two new schemes targeted to help Londoners into affordable home ownership and accelerate the delivery of new properties.
15. Rozario fires back at Which? in defence of equity release
26/01/15
Andrea Rozario, chief corporate officer at Bower Retirement Services, commented on Which?’s comparison of equity release products to what they considered as alternatives.
14. Kensington buyers Blackstone and TSSP agree Acenden acquisition
07/01/15
The private equity firms behind the Kensington buyout agreed to purchase Acenden Mortgage Servicing Solutions from the administrators of Lehman Brothers.
13. Lenders prepare ‘attack’ on broker market share
21/05/15
Lenders are preparing a salvo on intermediary market share through developments in technology, expected to hit the market in 2017.
12. Nationwide to launch lowest 10-year fixed rate on market
20/01/15
Nationwide introduced the market’s lowest 10-year fixed rate mortgage available at up to 60% LTV at 2.84% for existing customers and 2.94% for new customers.
11. Openwork axes 10 lenders from mortgage panel re-tender
29/01/15
Openwork refreshed its mortgage panel for the year cutting 10 lenders.
10. The impact of a Bank Base Rate cut on mortgage pricing – Marketwatch
19/02/15
As inflation hit 0.3%, the Bank of England’s Mark Carney mooted the suggestion of a cut to the 0.5% Bank Base Rate.
9. 8 things brokers need to know about TSB’s mortgage range
21/01/15
TSB unveiled a widely-anticipated service and product range for brokers, and Mortgage Solutions complied the key information intermediaries needed to know about the service.
8. Natwest to re-enter interest only market
10/09/15
This exclusive story revealed Natwest was to re-launch a range of interest only mortgages after scrapping the products in 2012.
7. Mortgage broker sentenced after evading £115,000 in tax
03/08/15
A London broker was handed a two-year suspended prison sentence and ordered to carry out 240 hours of community service for evading almost £115,000 in corporation tax. He used the money to fund a property in Dubai, overpay on his mortgage and buy land as an investment.
6. Enjoy the winners’ photos from the 2015 British Mortgage Awards
10/07/15
The photos from this year’s British Mortgage Awards, held at the Westminster Park Plaza, proved popular.
5. Nationwide issues broker warning over consumer buy-to-let
17/09/2015
Nationwide warned brokers to apply for the correct permissions to carry out consumer buy-to-let business or it will refuse to deal with them after the Mortgage Credit Directive deadline on 21 March.
4. Court reverses Northern Rock Together mortgage compensation decision
24/07/15
The Court of Appeal reversed a decision that would have led to compensation being paid to 41,000 Together mortgage borrowers with the former bank Northern Rock, which could have totalled £258m in refunded interest.
3. HSBC cuts rates and strikes new broker deal
30/07/15
HSBC cut rates across its range and secured its second mortgage broker partnership with London & Country.
2. Barclays to drop Woolwich brand
20/07/15
This exclusive story explained how Barclays would scrap the Woolwich brand from its intermediary mortgage lending business and planned a rebrand to Barclays Mortgages.
1. Help to Buy: ISA will leave first-time buyers short
31/03/2015
Despite being offered help through the Help to Buy: ISA, first-time buyers will still be left with £14,000 less than the average deposit of £29,218.
Speaking today at Kensington Mortgages’ 20th anniversary lunch, Amany Attia, chief executive officer of the group and its mortgage servicing company Acenden Mortgage Servicing Solutions, confirmed a January launch for New Street Mortgages would accompany a group rebrand under an as-yet-undisclosed name.
Attia said: “We will be launching a new group in January with a new name and a new set of group values,” she said.
“What that will allow us to do is service a much bigger range of customers.”
She said this customer segment remains a challenge, but said the group is strongly placed to take advantage of that opportunity.
Attia replaced Ian Henderson who quit as CEO to join Secure Trust Bank earlier this year.
The ex-MD of intermediary channel at Barclays, David Finlay is part of the Acenden team readying to launch specialist lender, New Street Mortgages.
Kensington is a niche residential and buy-to-let lender, with specialisms in complex income, self-employed and adverse credit loans.
Kensington buyers, investment funds Blackstone Tactical Opportunities and TPG Special Situations bought Acenden Mortgage Servicing Solutions from Lehman Brothers’ administrators in January 2015.
In February this year, Blackstone and TPG completed their buyout of Kensington for £180m and the group has confirmed big ambitions in the specialist lending sector.
