Dragonfly Property Finance has recruited Chris Holden and Lauren Gill as external business development managers (EBDMs).

Holden will focus on the South of England and Gill the West of England.

Holden has over 20 years’ experience working in financial services. He most recently spent eight years at Nationwide Building Society as an area sales manager, with all branch managers on the South Coast reporting directly into him.

Gill has four years’ financial services experience and joins Dragonfly from within the Octopus group, having previously worked as a business development manager for Octopus Investments supporting financial advisers across the UK. Prior to this, she was a new business manager at Barclaycard.

D’mitri Zaprzala, head of sales at Dragonfly Property Finance, said: “Demand in London may have cooled down but the slack has been more than taken up by other areas of the country. The M4 corridor and south of England are particularly active and the number of enquiries and AIPs we are receiving meant we had to further strengthen our exposure there.

“The combined wealth of knowledge and experience that Chris and Lauren bring to Dragonfly will not just deepen our reach but further improve our service levels, too.”

Holden added: “For someone who’s been working within financial services for such a long time, Dragonfly is extremely refreshing. Its way of doing business is unique and contemporary, like nothing I have seen before. It’s a very ambitious and dynamic company, and I’m very impressed with what they have set out to achieve.”

“Dragonfly has always been a part of the Octopus group that I’ve been interested in,” said Gill. “The team, led by Mark, has an unrivalled track record and this, coupled with the innovative product range, really made it stand out for me. The skills and knowledge I have already picked up at Octopus will hopefully serve me well.”