The company will also now be taking on 150 new staff as it expands operation hours - an increase of 50 on its previous stated intentions.
The moves were revealed by new managing director Paul Reynolds at the official opening of moneyQuest’s new headquarters - in Glasgow’s prime office space at 123 St Vincent Street - by Glasgow City Council leader Steven Purcell.
The board changes see Reynolds, formerly operations director, take over the day-to-day running of the company as managing director, while previous managing director Steve Pollard becomes the company’s first CEO, focussing on future expansion and diversification of the business in both in the UK and overseas.
Derek Pollard’s role as sales director remains but with additional responsibility for Second Loans and Sub Prime lending as key areas for future growth for the business.
The fourth member of the board, Iomart chief executive Angus McSween, who joined the company last year an executive chairman to oversee a two year expansion plan culminating in AIM listing, continues in that role.
Reynolds said: “We have worked very hard over the last 17 years to get where we now are, but we are in no doubt that the real hard work is still to come with our ambitious expansion plans, and we believe the new board structure is key to these being fulfilled. The rate of growth in recent years has been quite unbelievable - last year we grew by 30% achieving over £8.5 Million in turnover for 2006 and are on track for the same growth this year. With our relocation to what we believe is an exciting and colourful place to work, grow and showcase our values, I am sure that we will meet all of our stated objectives.
“We are proud to say that we have achieved all the targets we have set for ourselves. We are now primed to move forward, with Angus McSween’s expertise moving us towards AIM listing in the near future. We are targeting £3 Billion of mortgage business annually, which will move us towards becoming the biggest in our sector in the UK from our present place in the top five. There is real momentum behind us and I look forward to continuing the levels of growth we have achieved in recent years.
“We also want to expand the flexible staff-friendly policy and competitive salaries that give us one of the best retention rates in the financial services sector. We must maximise returns on our investment at 123 St Vincent Street, and that means using the office as close to 24/7 as possible. We know that there are highly-trained experienced financial services sales consultants, customer service staff and administrators out there who for lifestyle reasons cannot work 9-5 shifts. Our new flexible working patterns will be very appealing to these people as they would be able to work evenings and at weekends. We now intend employing an extra 150 staff coinciding with our move - up from our previous plan to take on an extra 100 people. These will be both full and part-time jobs - to fit in with the availability of the staff we source.
CEO Steve Pollard, speaking of his new role, said: “moneyQuest is very much a financial service company at heart, but we also have a search engine arm to the business which currently operates throughout the UK and the USA and we plan to expand this to other countries. I have been responsible for initiating and driving the technology and internet objectives of moneyQuest and my move to CEO will allow me to really focus on the strategic direction of this integral part of the business.”
Chairman Angus McSween said: “Since I joined the board of moneyQuest, I have seen the business meet the challenge of growth and of relocation. The reshuffle of the board allows each member to take ownership and responsibility for specific channels of the business and is further evidence of moneyQuest’s maturity as a growing SME. This keeps us on track for future options of AIM listing to facilitate further growth, demonstrating our confidence in a future that will undoubtedly attract investors.”
Opening the new office, Glasgow City Council leader Steven Purcell said: "moneyQuest's plans to create 150 jobs in Glasgow and locate their headquarters here is great news. This supports all the good work going on locally and will allow even more people share in the city's economic success.
"This is an exciting time to be involved in Glasgow. We have a growing international status in the financial services sector, bringing real and valuable employment to the city. Today's announcement will only help boost this reputation."
moneyQuest’s expansion has been supported extensively by Scottish Enterprise Glasgow. Director of Operations Stuart Patrick said: “moneyQuest is a home grown success story and proves that real opportunities exist for local companies within our expanding financial services sector. It is a huge vote of confidence in the quality of the city’s business environment and skills of our workforce that they’ve chosen to expand in Glasgow.”
Glasgow Chamber of Commerce chief executive Lesley Sawers said: “This is excellent news for the city and our already very successful financial services sector, which now employs 14% of people living in Glasgow. We need to support more companies like moneyQuest who are committed long-term to the city and are using Glasgow as the base to grow their business. The Chamber is particularly pleased to be at moneyQuest’s opening today, as they were the winner of the Overall Best Performing Business prize at our recent Glasgow Business Awards.”
