Together appoints new account manager for the North.

We’ve hired a highly-experienced industry professional as a regional account manager for the North.

James Briggs, who has worked in the specialist market for more than two decades, brings a wealth of knowledge of the industry to his new role, which begins this week.

Previously, he has held senior positions for specialist finance companies including national account manager, head of business development and specialist distribution manager.

James has had held the roles of operations manager for a specialist distributer and started his career as a mortgage adviser for a high street bank, giving him valuable experience “on both sides of the fence”, said the married dad-of-one.

He said he was looking forward to forging strong relationships with intermediaries across the North of England and Scotland – to make a valuable contribution to our continued growth, despite major challenges facing the industry because of the Covid pandemic.

James said: “All businesses in our sector had a hugely challenging 2020 but what particularly impressed me about Together is how the business also turned these challenges into an opportunity; investing in technology to boost efficiency, while maintaining its common sense approach, which has resulted in an even better service to its partners.

“Together truly appreciates the value of relationships with packagers in the specialist space and I’m excited to start working closely with partner firms to help identify growth opportunities, provide support and win business.”

This week, we announced in a trading update that average monthly loan originations were £74.4 million in the three months to December – up 70 per cent on the previous quarter.

Sundeep Patel, head of intermediary sales, said James’s knowledge, relationships and expertise would build on this success, helping Together to realise its future growth plans.

He said: “James is well-respected and a big name in the specialist lending industry and we’re delighted to welcome him to our business at what is an exciting time for us. His CV speaks for itself and we’re looking forward to his undoubtedly important contribution to Together as we move into 2021 and beyond.”