Cunningham, who has been with parent company CT Capital PLC for over 12 years, is tasked with growing the business further and maintaining its standards of customer service.
He started out as a secured loans underwriter before eventually rising to manage the commercial team within Central Mortgages.
Cunningham said: “The business has grown tremendously over the past two years, and I am extremely excited to be spearheading our further growth into 2015 and beyond.
“The market is especially buoyant at present and we are now one of the largest brokers specialising in commercial and buy-to-let solutions.”
With his experience as a landlord and a board member of the Eastern Landlords Association Cunningham submitted a proposal for an independent buy-to-let operation back in July 2012.
This led to the launch of TurnKey Landlords later in the year, with Cunningham managing two buy-to-let advisers and one underwriter.
By the time Commercial Trust launched as its own brand by April 2014 the workforce included five more advisers, two more underwriters and one sales manager, while its sales team is 30 strong and counting.
Andrew Turner, group chairman of CT Capital PLC, added: “I am delighted to be announcing Stuart’s appointment as chief executive.
“He has been with CT Capital Group for a number of years and has proven to be an accomplished business leader.
“To date, Stuart has been the driving force behind the success of Commercial Trust – which continues to flourish under his leadership – and I can think of no-one better suited to take on this role.”
