Hampshire Trust Bank will launch into the bridging sector.
The team will be run by newly appointed head of bridging Colin Stevens with ex-Amicus Iain McCarrell joining as senior underwriter.
Colin Bell, managing director of commercial mortgages at Hampshire Trust Bank, said: “Bridging loans form an important part of the mortgage funding market, providing a relatively speedy short-term solution to get people on the move.
“There is a growing demand for this type of funding and as a bank that is focused on supporting British businesses, we are committed to providing the flexible financing solutions our customers need to grow.
“The bridging, commercial and professional landlord’s mortgage sectors represent a wealth of opportunities for us. We are delighted to welcome Colin and Iain on board. They both have a great deal of experience in specialist lending and they are an important addition to our expanding specialist commercial mortgages team.”
Hampshire Trust announced that it will launch into the buy-to-let and commercial mortgage sectors in January.
Bell, who has more than 25 years’ experience in property lending, was self-employed before joining Hampshire Trust Bank with previous positions including director of lending at Heritable Bank and head of mortgage lending at Sun Bank.
Bell said: “The chance to be involved in the start-up of a new business line within this growing and well-respected specialist challenger bank was just the opportunity I have been looking out for.”
McCarrell has 15 years’ underwriting experience and worked at Amicus. Before that he held positions at Platform, Preferred and Heritable Bank.
He added: “I am delighted to join the team at Hampshire Trust Bank. There are a wealth of opportunities within the sector and I am hopeful that my desire to deliver superior customer service will make a positive impact to Hampshire Trust Bank, as well as our introducers.”
