Pepper UK has promoted Gerry McHugh, its former chief operating officer, to the newly created role of managing director, residential servicing.

McHugh joined the business in 2011 when the business had £1bn in assets under management. Pepper UK now has almost £9bn in assets under management with £7.6bn of this in residential lending.

McHugh’s expanded responsibilities include end to end oversight of the residential servicing business covering operational, client and risk management.

As the organisation continues to grow and diversify into new areas of lending and commercial real estate servicing, Pepper has split its UK operations into separate business lines, with the original core operation of residential mortgage servicing falling under McHugh’s leadership.

Richard Klemmer, CEO of Pepper UK, said: Gerry has played a pivotal role in the rapid growth of our business. His vast experience and deep relationships in the mortgage market have proved invaluable to our clients in recent years.

“Residential servicing is a key area for growth for Pepper UK and I’m very confident Gerry will continue to deliver for both Pepper and our clients as the business expands.”

McHugh added: “I’m excited to be taking leadership of a strong and experienced team in residential servicing who have grown the business so successfully in recent years. I look forward to building on this success and driving added value for our clients.”