Shepherds Friendly has appointed Laura Gauden as head of sales as the mutual seeks to expand its intermediary distribution partnerships.
The Manchester-based mutual society, which is celebrating its bicentenary year, has appointed Gauden to lead its sales function and support the continued development of its intermediary proposition.
Gauden (pictured) joins Shepherds Friendly with more than 20 years of experience in financial services across mortgage and insurance intermediary distribution. Her background includes a focus on customer experience, multi-channel customer journeys and people development.
Most recently, she served as national sales manager at Newcastle Building Society, where she helped implement the lender’s mortgage intermediary strategy and managed its field and telephony business development teams.
Her previous roles have also included positions at the Chartered Insurance Institute, Paymentshield, CHL Mortgages, Virgin Money and Northern Rock.
In her new position, Gauden will oversee the sales team, with responsibility for strategic sales leadership, revenue growth and supporting the development of the society’s proposition.
The appointment comes as Shepherds Friendly continues to strengthen its intermediary distribution network. Earlier this year, the mutual announced a partnership with Primis and has also secured distribution agreements with SimplyBiz, Next Intelligence, Mortgage Intelligence, Paradigm and The Money Group in recent years.
Gauden joins an expanding leadership team. Former head of sales Laura Hassall has returned to the organisation in the newly created role of head of strategic partnerships, where she will oversee relationships with service providers and networks.
Gauden said: “I’ve been incredibly impressed by the culture at Shepherds Friendly, and I’m excited to lead the sales team as we focus on growth, innovation, and maintaining our commitment to putting members first.
“Financial resilience has never been more important, particularly in today’s economic climate. The need for holistic advice and comprehensive protection is greater than ever, and with a significant protection gap still evident across the UK.
“It’s a privilege to be part of a member-focused organisation dedicated to helping more people build long-term financial security.”
Phil Nash, chief sales officer at Shepherds Friendly, added: “Laura comes to Shepherds Friendly with a vast amount of mortgage and insurance market experience and we’re incredibly happy to welcome her into the team at this exciting time of growth.”
