Hodge has today announced a number of changes to its mortgage team which will help the business cope with increased demand.

As part of the changes, Ryan Davies has been appointed as the Managing Director of Mortgages, after having held the role on an interim basis since March 2020.

• Ryan Davies confirmed as permanent MD of mortgages
• Four new staff recruited into the team and a Head of Mortgage Origination appointed

The team has also grown significantly with the recruitment of three new underwriters and a business development manager, as well as creating a new Head of Mortgage Origination role, which has been filled by Emma Williamson.

Hodge has made these changes to ensure that its focus on customer and broker relationships will not be compromised as the demand for mortgage applications increases.

On his appointment, Ryan said:

“With the stamp duty holiday ending in March, we are seeing increased demand across all of our mortgage products. We felt that, to maintain an excellent level of customer service, we needed to bring increased expertise into the team and make the journey more streamlined.

“Completions will now be managed within the newly formed mortgage origination team who will process applications from decision in principle (DIP) through to completion. A number of coaches have also been appointed across our retail department, who will be specific to each area and work closely with the teams to create a customer journey with immediate feedback and development.

“Hodge has always prided itself on its flexible and personal approach to each application and this new team structure will allow us to cope with the additional demand, as well as not having to compromise on this level of service.”

Before taking on the role of MD of Mortgages, Ryan Davies has held various roles within Hodge, after having joined the company through a graduate scheme in 2015. Ryan replaces Matt Burton in the role, who is now Group Retail Director and Deputy CEO.

Emma Williamson, who steps into the role as Head of Mortgage Origination, has also worked within Hodge for a number of years. Emma previously managed the completions team and developed a customer journey to ensure responses to solicitor or customer queries within 24 hours. In this new structure, Emma will manage the commission payments and ensure these are efficiently paid with corresponding statements. The new completions team will also handle porting, transfer of equity and further borrowing for all its customers.