Digital property exchange platform PEXA has appointed Julian Wells as its new UK head of communications as the firm continues to expand its presence in the UK property and mortgage markets.
Wells (main picture) joins the fintech with a background spanning marketing, strategy, mortgages and financial services innovation, having worked across startups, scale-ups and global corporates.
His appointment comes at a time when the UK government and industry bodies are intensifying efforts to digitise the home buying and mortgage process.
STREAMLINE TRANSACTIONS
Originally launched in Australia, PEXA operates a digital property settlement platform designed to streamline property transactions, enabling funds to move securely between parties at completion.
The company entered the UK market in 2022 and has been developing technology aimed at modernising the country’s property transaction infrastructure, which many industry figures argue remains heavily paper-based and fragmented.
PEXA entered a partnership with NatWest last July and in September launched its full sale and purchase proposition.
MARKET INNOVATION
In 2025 Wells completed a professional doctorate examining how technology is reshaping financial services business models, with particular focus on the mortgage sector.
His research concluded that the greatest constraint on innovation in mortgage lending is the outdated property transaction process itself, arguing that full digitisation could trigger major structural changes in how homes are bought, sold and financed in the UK.
Based at PEXA’s UK headquarters in Leeds, Wells will lead communications activity within the company’s marketing function while also helping to build the firm’s profile among lenders, brokers, conveyancers and technology partners.
CRITICAL PERIOD
Wells told Mortgage Soup: “I am delighted to be joining PEXA at what I think is a really exciting phase in its UK growth.
“Recent months have seen an increasing amount of government and industry activity in relation to digitisation within the home buying process, and we are in a critical period for lenders, brokers, conveyancers, tech firms and many others involved in this process.
“Joining PEXA gives me the opportunity to be a part of this change, and to help play a role in the rollout of critical new digital infrastructure.”
