Within the restructured Group, Tony Machin has been appointed Group Managing Director and has responsibility for controlling all the operating businesses within the Group. Tony reports to Rupert Webb, Group Chief Executive. Mark Chadwick remains Group Finance Director and Company Secretary and Stephen Atkins remains Group Compliance Director.
Steve Kember has been promoted to the position of Managing Director of Freedom Finance plc and will take responsibility for managing the loans and mortgage broking business in the UK. Martin Chapman has also been promoted to Managing Director of Business Development & Europe and will have responsibility for overseeing the development of the Group’s European business and strategic relationships.
Rupert Webb, Group Chief Executive, said: “These changes complete the transition from being a single loan broking company to a pan European financial services Group, which now spans unsecured loans, secured loan and mortgage broking, mortgage lending, a mortgage network and the general insurance market. We also have operations in Spain and Sweden with an operation opening in Ireland shortly.
“Freedom has a strong management team which has transformed the business during the past couple of years. The Freedom Finance Group has recently been named in the Sunday Times PricewaterhouseCoopers Profit Track 100 survey as the fourth fastest growing company in the UK and has been voted one of the top 200 fastest growing companies in Europe. Freedom was also named by the Sunday Times as one of the top 100 companies to work for in the UK, for the second year running. During the past financial year pre-tax profits have increased from £6 million in 2003 to £11 million in 2004 and this financial year the budget is for a Group profit of £20 million. That’s a stunning performance of which the entire management team can be justifiably proud.”
