Shawbrook Bank has announced the appointment of Steven Fitzhugh into the new role of product manager.

He has been working in the financial industry for 22 years, including 12 years with the Leeds Building Society as an assistant product manager and then product marketing team leader, where his chief responsibilities were mortgage product lifecycle management and product benchmarking.

His most recent role was as a customer insight manager at Cardif Pinnacle, where he conducted market analysis and carried out quantitative and qualitative research. Shawbrook Commercial says this will be pivotal to his product manager role and its ability to enhance the service provided to brokers, where Fitzhugh will be developing a strategic product roadmap for the business moving forward.

He said: “I was attracted to the role of product manager as soon as I saw it, having heard positive endorsements about Shawbrook through some of its employees who I had worked with during my time at Money Partners, where I was a product analyst. From my own research, I was also aware that amongst the specialist banks, Shawbrook is the one making the most noise and was impressed by its commitment to innovative mortgage products. As someone with a product-oriented background, this is a compelling opportunity to work with a progressive bank, and I look forward to further developing our product range for broker partners.”

Karen Bennett, sales and marketing director for Shawbrook Commercial, added: “The entire team is pleased to welcome Steven on board. This is a crucial role going forward, and we have been keen to recruit a candidate of Steven’s calibre for some time. With a strong track record in monitoring industry trends, analysis and product improvement initiatives, we are confident that he will provide valuable insights into how we can improve our offering to brokers and their clients.”