Hampshire Trust Bank (HTB) has appointed Daniel Smith as business development manager (BDM) for the Anglia and midlands region. He joins the firm after spending two years at Alternative Bridging Corporation as a BDM, where he developed broker relationships. Smith’s career also includes roles at a boutique estate agency and as a senior personal banker at the Royal Bank of Scotland. In his new role, he will focus on supporting HTB’s key accounts while building relationships with new brokers.

Fiducia Commercial Network has appointed Norman Chambers as its new executive relationship director. The former managing director at the National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers has joined the team to support its growth plans. He brings 30 years of experience in banking to the role, having worked as firms including NatWest and RBS. Fiducia said that the appointment aligns with its mission, with the network looking to enhance access to funding for SMEs, supporting compliance-focused outcomes and promoting transparency and growth for member broker firms.

Bluestone Mortgages has made updates to its criteria to streamline the mortgage application process. The firm has increased maximum LTV on its BBB products, which is eligible for customers with up to four defaults and three CCJs in the last 36 months, to 75%, up from 70%. Bluestone has also made enhancements to its broker portal by introducing DocuSign for application declarations, which will speed up submission times by eliminating the need for wet signature documents. The lender has also added new fields to its broker portal information on clients’ adverse credit history.

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