The Brightstar Group has made a series of hires across its businesses as it looks to support expansion and rising demand for specialist lending support.
The appointments span sales, operations and support functions, as the group continues to invest in its workforce and technology while positioning itself for further growth in a more complex lending environment.
Within Brightstar Financial, Saan Popat and Leon Walker have joined the sales team. Popat brings five years’ experience in the mortgage sector, having progressed from an administrative role into advising, while Walker joins from Saffron Building Society, where he worked as a mortgage adviser and has been active in financial services since 2012.
Residential and buy-to-let specialist Yiannis Constantinou has moved from Brightstar Financial to join the broker team at Sirius Finance in London.
Elsewhere in the group, Saffiya Gwynne has joined The School Fees Company as a relationship manager, while Emma Burgess has joined Solstar Insurance, reporting to Jacqui Edwards following her promotion to head of insurance.
The group has also expanded its sales support team with the addition of Ben Abbott, Toby Austin, Albey Chambers, Tom Sullivan and Liam Morritt.
In operations, University of York undergraduate Thomas O’Sullivan has joined on a year-long internship, supporting the data analytics team as the group continues to develop its technology and artificial intelligence projects.
GROWTH STRATEGY UNDER WAY
The hires form part of Brightstar’s ‘Project 20’ strategy, which targets at least 20% annual growth over the next three years and turnover of £20m by the end of 2028.
The group said it would continue to invest in artificial intelligence to improve efficiency and enhance the broker experience, with a focus on delivering a more streamlined user journey across the specialist mortgage market.
Across its businesses, the group has accumulated close to 5,000 Trustpilot reviews, placing it among the most reviewed firms in the mortgage broker category.
Chief executive Rob Jupp (pictured) said: “Across the Group, we’re continuing to see strong demand from brokers for support with more complex cases, and these appointments ensure we are well positioned to meet that need.
“We remain fully committed to investing in our people, our technology and the overall broker experience, and that is reflected in the growth strategy we’ve set out through Project 20.
“We are building a business that combines deep human expertise with significant investment in technology, particularly in AI, to enhance the broker journey.
“These appointments are an important part of that strategy, ensuring we have the right people in place alongside the right systems to deliver a faster, more efficient and ultimately market-leading experience.”
Chief people officer Clare Jupp added: “All of these appointments reflect the success of The Brightstar Group’s unique approach to recruitment which utilises our ‘Growing our Own’ philosophy alongside our REFER scheme and our growing relationship with schools, turbo charged of course, by the launch of The School Fees Company.
“We continue to recruit high calibre, high energy team members who, most importantly, are the correct cultural fit for our businesses.
“Our team, our contacts, our partner schools and our Young Learners Programme continue to be prolific recruiters for the business.”
