It announces new joint directors of underwriting
Family Building Society has announced the promotion of Blaine Faragher and Phillip Townsend to joint directors of underwriting, replacing Andrew Deeley who has retired after 10 years in the role.
Faragher (pictured left) began his career in financial services as a trainee inspector at a life assurance society in the 1980s, before carving out a career in mortgages, initially with the Bank of Ireland, and subsequently has had roles as adviser and business development manager (BDM) with several lenders. He joined the mutual in 2017 as an underwriting manager.
Townsend (pictured right) had previously worked at Lloyds Bank, at Halifax as an in-house mortgage adviser before joining the Bank of Ireland’s underwriting team, where he was also a PPI complaints investigator. He joined the Family Building Society in 2013 as an underwriter.
Faragher and Townsend will now head a team of 24 loan underwriters who review all mortgage applications manually on a case-by-case basis. Around 95% of all applications come from brokers and other intermediaries, supported by a growing team of BDMs – a team that helped the mutual break its records for the largest annual value of new applications and mortgage approvals last year.
“The team of human underwriters we employ at the Family are here to ensure that underserved borrowers are lent to,” said Mark Bogard, chief executive at the Family Building Society. “Many of these would-be borrowers are finding it increasingly difficult to remortgage, let alone take out a new mortgage in these uncertain times.
“Phil and Blaine’s team are here to personally support brokers whose clients are being turned down by the major lenders, just because of their age or their stories are just too complicated for their computers. Tell us their stories instead.”
Want to be regularly updated with mortgage news and features? Get exclusive interviews, breaking news, and industry events in your inbox – subscribe to our FREE daily newsletter. You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
