Moves to support the company’s expansion following three consecutive months of high lending
Challenger lender Glenhawk has announced the appointment of four hires to support its ambitious growth strategy this year and to follow the recent launch of its latest regulated bridging offering.
The lender, which has enjoyed three consecutive months of record lending from March to May, has appointed Michael Clifford (pictured above) as commercial director, Simon Lee (pictured below) as head of mortgage operations, Sarah Wade as head of marketing, and Jude Miranda as bridging credit manager.
“We have enjoyed an extremely strong first half, with a buoyant housing market and differentiated product proposition underpinning record lending volumes: in May alone, our new regulated range saw enquiries increase by over 300%,” Guy Harrington, chief executive at Glenhawk, revealed.
“Attracting and retaining the best talent is absolutely critical in ensuring we can continue to innovate and deliver best in-class-client service. In particular, we look to Michael, Simon, Sarah, and Jude’s experience to ensure we have all the tools at our disposal to build on our most recent launch success, as we progress other exciting growth initiatives.”
Clifford brings over 15 years of relationship management, strategic development, and project management experience. He joins Glenhawk from Hodge Bank, where he spent three years, latterly as head of commercial propositions overseeing the bank’s commercial investment, development, BTL products, and defining the product development strategy.
Reporting directly to Harrington, Clifford will oversee the launch and roll-out of all Glenhawk products across its key markets. His responsibilities include market evaluation, proposition development and product strategy, with the aim of diversifying product set, increasing distribution opportunities and maximising income.
“Glenhawk’s remarkable growth since launching less than five years ago has been predicated on identifying underserved market opportunities ripe for disruption. I look forward to leveraging my experience launching and scaling new products to ensure Glenhawk continues on this upward trajectory,” Clifford commented on his appointment.
As for Lee, he will be responsible for current mortgage operations, helping Glenhawk achieve its strategic goal of entering the specialist long-term secured space.
He has over 30 years of experience in the UK financial services market, leading high-performing teams engaged with multiple stakeholders with a specialist focus on secured lending. He joins Glenhawk from Premium Credit Ltd, where he spent three years as head of underwriting, leading a 25-strong commercial underwriting function.
Wade, who has 18 years of financial services marketing experience, is expected to bolster Glenhawk’s marketing function. Before Glenhawk, she spent 18 months at Foundation Home Loans, having held the position of marketing head. Prior to this, she was senior channel marketing manager at Kensington Mortgages.
Miranda, as Glenhawk’s bridging credit manager, will oversee all loan underwriting and manage a growing team of underwriters and case workers, while driving process improvement and service enhancements to support current growth and future development plans.
He has over 30 years of financial services experience and joins from Masthaven, where he was a senior underwriter and previously held senior credit positions at HTB, Shawbrook, and Platform Home Loans.
