Accord Mortgages has appointed 26 new team members across its sales and underwriting teams.
2020 saw the lender record its busiest four months in its 17-year history and with demand still higher than pre-pandemic levels, and the latest lockdown providing brokers with more uncertainty, additional headcount will be needed to maintain service levels in 2021.
The sales team will be increased with two new business development advisers (BDAs) who will be supporting the webchat function and supporting brokers with queries on new business applications. Since it became the primary form of inbound communication in March, webchat has seen an increase of 286% with an average satisfaction score of 9.4 in 2020.
Accord is also recruiting three new telephone business development managers (TBDMs) to help support brokers in more areas of the UK. The roles will be home-based and the successful applicants will be responsible for managing broker relationships via telephone, email and webchat.
Meanwhile, 21 new underwriters will be recruited over the coming weeks to further boost the team and ensure that service levels remain high and turnaround times stay as short as possible.
Jeremy Duncombe (pictured), managing director of Accord Mortgages, said: “Our focus, both before the pandemic and during has been about supporting brokers to the best of our ability and increasing capacity is key to sustaining our service capabilities.
“The last year has demonstrated that technology has improved processes, with webchat being a prime example of responding quickly and effectively to broker queries. Working remotely has also been incredibly successful and so we are confident the new TBDM roles can be performed from across the UK.
“We remain fully committed to face-to-face meetings with our brokers and key lending partners, however the efficiencies we’ve seen by working from home will also help evolve our BDM role to balance virtual and, when it is safe to do so, physical meetings. Although the last year has definitely been challenging, and there is still more to come as we start the new year, we are confident we have everything in place to adapt to the conditions and continue to support both our people and our brokers.”
