Dragonfly Property Finance, has hired Justin Cooper as a business development manager (BDM).

Cooper has 25 years’ experience in financial services and has worked in a number of specialist areas, from offshore investments and IHT planning to, most recently, platforms.

Prior to joining Dragonfly he was a platform specialist at Zurich. He will report in to Mark Posniak, head of sales and marketing.

Cooper said: “When I met Dragonfly I was really impressed by the enthusiasm and passion of the management team, not to mention the way they have risen to the top of the short-term finance sector in such a short time period. The industry continues to grow and to innovate and I wanted to be a part of it.

“My goal is for brokers to look at me as their ‘go-to man’ within bridging and to extend the reach of the Dragonfly proposition.”

Jonathan Samuels, CEO, Dragonfly Property Finance, added: “Justin has a fantastic pedigree, with extensive experience across the entire financial services sector. It’s great to have someone with his knowledge and contacts who can hit the ground running and bring value from day one.

“With our biggest first quarter ever, we expect 2013 to be a defining year for Dragonfly and Justin will play a key role in this.”