Rob Collins has been appointed by Brightstar Financial to head up a separate commercial finance division.

Collins (pictured) joined Brightstar in December 2012 to work with director Kit Thompson to develop Brightstar’s commercial capability and will be recruiting new members of his team in early 2014.

The specialist distributor will now have four dedicated divisions: ‘specialist residential and buy-to-let, commercial, bridging and secured loans.

Rob Jupp, Brightstar’s CEO, said: “We set out three years ago to offer the broker community a hub of interlocking, complementary lending divisions, all of which would be able to offer assistance with enquiries, specialist knowledge of their sector and the skills to help brokers and their clients find the right funding solutions in any area.

“As we go into 2014, having had another record year in 2013, Brightstar is now even better equipped to be the distributor choice for every intermediary looking for specialist lending support.”

Collins added: “When Rob and Kit invited me to join them last year, I was attracted by the ambitious plans they had for Brightstar.

“We have worked very hard to expand our commercial offering in the last 12 months and I am delighted to be leading Brightstar’s dedicated commercial division into 2014.”