Mark Graves has been appointed as chief operating officer (COO) of mortgage and protection networks, HL Partnership and Mortgage Support Network.

He will report to chief executive, Chris Tanner.

Graves recently left Sesame Bankhall Group (SBG), where he was managing director at Sesame Network and PMS Mortgage Club.

His new role has been created to develop potential new business opportunities, provide strategic support to the management team and lend his knowledge and experience to enhance the existing proposition.

He said: “The opportunity to join a business with a clear and unambiguous goal of becoming the best home for mortgage and protection advisers was too good to miss. HLP and MSN benefit from being one of the few network groups in settled private ownership, which allows us to concentrate on building upon the existing strong foundations to deliver a world class proposition that benefits our members and every product and service partner equally.

“My focus will be on looking at other potential opportunities for the Group as well as supporting the work of the management team that Chris Tanner is building. With Shaun Almond becoming managing director across both networks, together with an outstanding existing team, this is an exciting time to be joining the HLP and MSN family.

“I shall also be using my experience to help build the proposition that Shaun Almond and his colleagues need to generate even greater volumes of new business from our current firms while making the proposition irresistible to other mortgage and protection firms across the UK.”

Tanner added: “We are delighted to have Mark on board. His experience of the network sector allied to the connections he has throughout the mortgage market are going to be key components in our drive to establish the group’s proposition as the most attractive in the market.

“We are putting together a team which will be able to support our growth plans and Mark Graves will play a major role in helping us achieve those goals.”