Central Trust and Mercantile Trust have appointed a new senior business development manager within the mortgage desk.

Nicola Hughff joins the specialist lending brands from The Loans Partnership, where she spent over three years as a senior sales adviser. She has 18 years’ experience in financial services, joining second charge lender Prestige Finance as an underwriter in 2004.

In 2010 she became an adviser at Money Debt & Credit, supporting customers who were in debt management programmes. In 2013 she moved back into underwriting, working for The Loans Warehouse until 2015 when she joined Shawbrook as a senior business executive on the mortgage desk.

In her new role, Hughff (pictured) will be responsible for identifying new relationships and building upon existing ones, driving quality of submission and overseeing referral trends analysis for future product evolvement.

She is also tasked with identifying process enhancements as well as maintaining and exceeding service standards to provide ‘best in class’ service.

She will report to Katie Wilsher, head of broker sales at Central and Mercantile Trust.

Hughff said: “My heart has always been in lending and the chance to come and work for Central and Mercantile has not only given me the opportunity to get back into lending but also to provide the platform to make a difference, as both businesses have huge aspirations for growth.

“I have mainly spent my career in the second charge sector so I am relishing the opportunity to be in the bridging and buy-to-let markets, supporting brokers by finding lending solutions that aid good customer outcomes for customers who otherwise remain underserved.”

Maeve Ward, director of commercial operations at Central and Mercantile Trust, added: “People buy people, and it’s hard not to buy into Nicola. She has a vast amount of experience in the specialist lending market across broking and lending and is full of personality.

“She puts service at the heart of everything she does and will go above and beyond to ensure the best possible customer journey. Nicola will be a great asset to both businesses.”