A number of lenders were briefed on the venture yesterday including Abbey for Intermediaries, Barclays, Nationwide and Northern Rock.
Sesame Bankhall chief operating officer George Higginson will take on the role of SBVS chairman and John Cupis, managing director of Sesame owned PMS, will take on the position of managing director at the new company.
John Malone, executive chairman of PMS, will be a board member as will Rob Clifford, the mortgage entrepreneur who founded Mortgageforce and joined the board of Direct Valuations last month.
Direct Valuations is an established panel management service provider that has arranged more than one million valuations over the last 20 years.
The launch of the panel management company is a significant strategic development for Sesame Bankhall Group.
Higginson said: “The aim is to create a market leading panel management business that delivers a high quality service to lenders, intermediary partners and customers. This move demonstrates how Sesame Bankhall Group is seeking to widen its footprint in key areas where we already have a strong position, including the mortgage and housing market.”
Paul Gratton, executive chairman at Direct Valuations, added: "Having pioneered valuation panel management in the late 1980s, this new jointly owned business is a major step forward for Direct Valuations and we are delighted to be bringing it to market with Sesame Bankhall Group."
Cupis said: “This latest development is a natural next step for our group and clearly signals our deep commitment to the mortgage and housing market. We firmly believe that this market remains a cornerstone of the UK’s social and economic landscape, which is why we are prepared to invest in its future.
“Our new service will enable us to strengthen our relationships with lenders and enable us to develop other valuation services to benefit intermediaries and their clients”.
Sesame Bankhall Group operates market leading brands PMS, the UK’s largest mortgage club for directly regulated intermediaries, and Sesame, the award-winning network for appointed representative IFAs and mortgage brokers.
In January 2010 PMS and Sesame announced their market share results for mortgage business in 2010. The combined group confirmed its position as the UK’s largest mortgage intermediary by delivering over £23.8bn of mortgage applications to lenders last year. This represents a 27% share of the intermediary mortgage market and 13% share of the whole UK market through all distribution channels.
