The Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA) has announced the appointment of Richard Beardshaw as its Management Committee Chair for 2024/25.

Beardshaw is head of sales, mortgage intermediaries, at HSBC UK.

For the course of 2024, Beardshaw will be joined on the Management Committee by two Deputy Chairs, Nicola Goldie of Aldermore and Louisa Sedgwick of Paragon; elected Directors (current Chair) Jeremy Duncombe of Accord Mortgages and Andy Dean of Nationwide, along with co-opted Directors Adrian Moloney of OSB Group and Jonathan Stinton of Coventry for Intermediaries. Kate Davies will continue in her role as Executive Director.

IMLA is the trade body that represents the interests of 53 UK mortgage lenders and 12 associated firms involved in generating mortgage business via professional financial intermediaries. The Management Committee controls the Association’s operations, steers its activities and represents IMLA at meetings with external stakeholders.

Beardshaw has more than 20 years’ experience in financial services. He has been in his current role at HSBC for more than eight years and his previous experience includes roles at Countrywide, Lehman Brothers and Platform. He has served on IMLA’s Management Committee since 2019.

He said: “I’m absolutely delighted to take on the role of Chair and on behalf of everyone at IMLA I’d like to thank Jeremy for his three years’ service as Chair. I look forward to working with Kate and the directors to continue to support IMLA’s membership.”

Kate Davies, executive chair of IMLA, added: “Congratulations to Richard and to all those who have been either elected or co-opted, to those who are returning for a further year and those joining us for the first time. I greatly value their experience and willingness to give up their time to help me run the Association. I look forward to working with them all in the coming year.

“I would like to thank those members who have worked on the Committee and are now standing down, and also those who offered themselves for election. We had an exceptionally large and strong field of candidates this year, which indicates healthy support for and interest in IMLA’s activities on behalf of its members, which is much appreciated.

“My particular thanks go to Jeremy Duncombe who, having taken over as Chair part-way through his predecessor’s two-year term, was then elected to serve for the next two full years. He has completed a long stint, and will continue to help IMLA as he remains on the Management Committee.”