Blemain Group has appointed Mark Rookyard as a new regional development director.

Rookyard (pictured) was previously national account manager at GE Money Home Lending. He will work primarily with the Cheshire Mortgage Corporation arm of Blemain Group, focusing on the first-charge and second-charge residential market.

Gary Bailey, director at Blemain Group, said: “Mark has over 20 years of experience in the industry and brings with him invaluable insight.

Mark will help us to continue to work closely with distributors and networks to promote our first-charge and second-charge offerings.

“This is an interesting time for the specialist lending market with traditional lenders reluctant to provide finance.

“There is a real opportunity for Blemain Group to continue to increase its market share and Mark will be at the forefront of this endeavour.”

Rookyard added: “It’s fantastic to be joining Blemain Group at such a buoyant period in time for the market. I’m excited to be part of a business which has such an innovative culture, to help create further growth.

“As a specialist lender with a strong appetite to lend, I’m looking forward to working with partners to develop and enhance key relationships and help the Group increase awareness throughout the intermediary market.”