Keystone Property Finance BDMs has recruited a new business development manger (BDM) for the South West of England.
Ross Williams replaced Paul Rockett, who will be retiring in early June after 38 years in the mortgage market.
Williams (pictured) has more than five years’ experience as a BDM in the South West and joins from distributor Black Book Finance, where he focussed mainly on buy-to-let and commercial business. Prior to that, he was a BDM for fellow distributor Enterprise Finance.
He will take over all of Paul’s roles and responsibilities and will be getting out to meet brokers in the South West in the coming weeks.
Keystone Property Finance’s BDMs are starting to book face-to-face meetings with brokers for the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
Since the pandemic, Keystone’s BDMs have communicated with their brokers through a mixture of video calls, online chat, email or over the phone.
However, with Covid cases falling and vaccine rates rising, the specialist buy-to-let lender has decided to offer brokers the option of in-person meetings, following the Government’s Covid-19 guidelines, from Monday 24 May.
Brokers who do not wish to meet face-to-face will continue to be able to contact their Keystone BDM via video call, online chat, email or over the phone, as before.
With Keystone’s BDMs returning to the road, it also means they will be attending industry events, the first being the Mortgage Business Expo in Leeds on 8th July, subject to government guidelines.
Elise Coole, managing director of Keystone Property Finance, said: “We have shown over the past 14 months that we can work remotely while maintaining good service levels, and even when things return to normal, we will continue to offer brokers the choice of how they communicate with us.
“But after so long at home, our BDM teams are itching to get back on the road to speak to brokers about their complex buy-to-let cases and to tell them all of the exciting things we have in the pipeline.
“That said, we realise there will be many brokers out there who do not want to meet face-to-face, for whatever reason, and we completely understand that.
“As a modern, innovative lender, we aim to be as flexible as possible, and we will gladly continue to help solve brokers’ complex buy-to-let cases through their chosen medium.
“Paul is an exceptionally well-liked, valued and talented team member and we are going to miss his unparalleled experience here at Keystone. He’s been a wonderful colleague over the past few years, and I’d like to thank him for his hard work and effort here at Keystone. But at the same time, after more than 38 years in the mortgage market, if anyone deserves a long and happy retirement, then it’s Paul.
“But in Ross we feel we have the perfect replacement, someone with fantastic experience and who has a deep understanding of both buy-to-let and commercial lending. We are thrilled to welcome Ross on board and we are confident he will be a major asset to our talented BDM team.”