Specialist Mortgage Centre Based In Leeds

Press release published on 6 November 2006 by Scarborough Building Society

Scarborough Building Society has begun a programme of significant investment in its Leeds-based business, starting with the arrival of its new Specialist Lending Centre.

The new centre will eventually house up to 12 specialist mortgage underwriters and support staff, who will underpin Scarborough’s new non-conforming mortgage subsidiary – Scarborough Specialist Mortgages (SSM).

Launched in October, SSM will specialise in non-conforming mortgage products, which cater for people who have either experienced credit problems in their lives or perhaps do not fit the traditional borrower mould because they are self-employed or have complex sources of income.

The Specialist Lending Centre – based on the first floor of Scarborough’s Boar Lane branch – is manned by some of the most respected specialist underwriters in the industry, who boast almost 30 years’ experience between them.

It is expected to handle millions of pounds of specialist mortgage business annually – further supporting Leeds’ developing reputation as the financial centre of the North.

Dave Newby, Andy Richardson and Peter Brooke form the underwriting backbone of Scarborough’s ambitious plans to win business within this growing niche of the mortgage market.

Their expertise – backed by the underwriters’ personalised approach to service – will form one of the key selling points of the new specialist brand.

Scarborough Specialist Mortgages products are currently only available to intermediaries. However, Scarborough plans to roll them out to consumers in the High Street in the New Year.

Head of Group Marketing, Tony Burdin, explained the decision to base the new specialist facility in Leeds, rather than the Society’s headquarters in Scarborough: ‘Leeds seemed the obvious choice when we were considering where SSM should be based. It represents the largest financial and commercial centre of our heartland and provides us with access to a pool of highly skilled and experienced employees.

‘Also, because of the high volumes of business we expect SSM to deal with, we felt it was appropriate to complement our central cutting edge mortgage processing facilities with a satellite site which is easily accessible to intermediaries.

‘The fact that Leeds is rapidly becoming THE financial centre of the North was also a major factor.

‘The Group’s administration infrastructure remains in Scarborough and our Leeds-based staff will work closely with our head office underwriters to give as many people as possible access to the alternative mortgage options offered by the SSM product range.’

Tony added that launching a specialist lending subsidiary was an obvious choice for the Scarborough Group, as it already has more than 15 years’ experience of administering non-conforming mortgages on behalf of major clients, through its subsidiary company Scarborough Mortgage Services (SMS).

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