Hampshire Trust Bank (HTB) has appointed Uliana Kuzmis as deputy managing director within its development finance division.

Kuzmis (pictured) joins HTB following seven years at Octopus Group, where she was most recently head of development finance (light).

She will report into Alex Upton, managing director, development finance.

Kuzmis said: “I am thrilled to be joining HTB! From the beginning I could see so much potential within the development finance division. We have a large team of talented and driven individuals who all thrive to deliver an exceptional customer journey experience to our customers.

“I always look beyond the ‘what’ and the ‘who’ – and right now I want to focus on the ‘how. I strongly believe that, especially in these challenging and uncertain times, a lender should be there for its clients and strive to do the right thing in the right manner. And I see this within HTB.”

Upton, added: “When building a team, I have three basic rules – add quality… add quality… and add quality. It’s fair to say that Uliana ticks all those boxes. We have some ambitious growth plans for the business but I am confident that with Uliana in the team we can achieve our targets.

“Uliana has extensive experience of the UK development finance marketplace and the fact that she has worked across a range of roles means she is ideally suited for success within this new position in the division.”

“We have a real appetite for new business, which was highlighted by the recent increase in our maximum loan amount from £15m to £25m.”