The new office is located in Market Square, Darlington and will be staffed by Arthur Lodge and Michael Todd, both recruited from the publishing industry.
“This is phase two of our planned national expansion programme,” says Elephant Loans’ Managing Director Gary Miller-Cheevers. “We know we’re flying in the face of the approach our competitors are taking, but I firmly believe that offering customers face to face contact rather than the anonymity of a call centre is the route to success. We’ve seen this with the business enjoyed by our first regional office in Oldham which we opened in December.”
“By locating our north east branch in Darlington we are ideally situated to cover traditionally neglected centres. We’re just forty miles from Newcastle, and within easy reach of important towns such as Sunderland, Middlesborough, Harrogate and Leeds. We now have coast to coast coverage in the north of England and anticipate opening our next regional office in the Midlands within the next six months”.
“Although a significant volume of our business is now being conducted online we feel that personal contact is vital in developing and maintaining solid business relationships,” says Miller-Cheevers. “Certainly, in our experience, there are significant differences in the type of mortgage and loan products required around the country and by developing specialist teams with a detailed understanding of individual local markets we’re seeking to improve our services still further.”
