Smith’s last lender job was sales director of Accord Mortgages where he was sales director and already has long established relationships with many of the UK’s largest distributors, having been central to Accord’s initial launch.
He said: “There are many great people working across the market, and I am looking forward to working with them to support their businesses and help re-establish Bank of Ireland at the forefront of intermediaries’ minds.”
His role at Bank of Ireland UK will include the strengthening of the intermediary-focused sales support structure to better serve brokers and the galvanising of relationships across the market.
Smith is joined by former colleague Ed Payne, who is now Bank of Ireland for Intermediaries regional sales manager for corporate accounts in the South of England. Previously Payne was responsible for establishing Accord’s first national account programme, while he also worked head of sales during his time at Southern Pacific Personal Loans.
Ed Brown, former national account manager at Virgin Money, also joins the team as Bank of Ireland regional sales manager for corporate accounts in the North of England. Based in Birmingham, his previous job centred around responsibility for cultivating and protecting relationships with some of the UK’s largest mortgage distributors.
The latest hires come as part of an expansion project which has seen 160 new members of staff join Bank of Ireland for Intermediaries’ expanding sales and underwriting teams, and the opening of a new mortgage processing centre to ensure brokers continue to receive excellent service.
Alison Pallett, director of sales at Bank of Ireland UK, said: “The appointment of Iain and his team is a great step forward in our re-entry into the intermediary market. We are now well positioned to provide our partners with the very best service possible at a time when demand looks set to grow.”
