Aldermore Bank has promoted Simon Knowles to head of property development and has appointed Stuart Williams to property development manager, as part of its ongoing expansion of the team.

Knowles, who was previously property development manager, has been filling in for the role since August last year. He will report to Rob Lankey, commercial mortgages managing director.

He has been at Aldermore since April 2010, previously holding various roles in property finance and property development at Davenham Group. He started his career at NatWest Bank where he spent 15 years in roles including senior business manager and commercial banking manager.

Williams, reporting to Knowles, is responsible for liaising with specialist mortgage/finance brokers, working across the Midlands and South East of England to provide development finance facilities for small to medium sized developers.

He is based in Birmingham and has more than seven years’ experience gained in the property development finance market. Most recently, He was a BDM for Bridgebank Capital and has also previously worked for Davenham Property Finance where he held the position of regional sales director.

Knowles said: “I’m very pleased to be heading up the Property Development team, which is growing rapidly due to the high demand we are seeing from property developers wanting access to finance in the wake of improving confidence in the economy and the housing market. We plan to double the size of our team in the next 12 months, so it’s an exciting time for Aldermore.”

Williams added: “I’m delighted to have joined Aldermore, which is really making its presence felt in the Property Development market. The Aldermore Property Development team has ambitious targets for the year ahead and I’m looking forward to helping it become a leading player in the market.”