After more than 27 years with the Skipton Building Society, Jon Rawley will be leaving his post as business development manager (BDM) for the South West in December.

Rawley (pictured) joined Skipton in 1994 to open a new branch office in Exeter – the first Skipton office in Devon and Cornwall – followed three years later by a new branch in Plymouth where, amongst other things, he launched a successful savings accounts linked to Plymouth Argyle FC and firmly established Skipton in the south west. He even donned the outfit of Argyle’s Pilgrim Pete several times at the club’s Home Park ground and in the city centre to promote the mutual relationship.

In 2002, Skipton set up a new division for intermediary mortgage business and Rawley moved over to this team as the first ever Skipton BDM for the south west.

During his time at the mutual he has been involved in many charity activities, won BDM of the year several times and contributed to the success of the business development function, both financially and culturally.

He will be taking up a new opportunity while staying in the mortgage world in his home county of Devon.

Rawley said: “I’ve driven more than 600,000 miles supporting brokers over the last 27 years. I’m massively grateful to all the south west brokers who have supported me and Skipton over this time and delighted to have been able to reciprocate by helping brokers and their clients with appropriate lending solutions.

“Skipton’s common-sense approach to lending coupled with innovative products and processes, a personal touch and great internal teams has been the consistent hallmark to our achievements in the south west.

“During my time we’ve gone from paper applications and processing everything through our local offices through to slick technology that allows immediate submission of, and response to, mortgage applications. The standards and professionalism of the industry have improved over the years, and it’s been great to have been part of a business that’s embraced all these things and continued to grow and support local firms and their clients.

“I’m now ready to take on a new challenge, and, having worked in the intermediary sector for so many years, I’ve been inspired by many great broker businesses and great advisers I’ve had the pleasure of engaging with.  I’m moving into the broker world, joining an established partnership in south Devon.

John Scrivens, Skipton intermediary lead, added: “Everyone at Skipton has joined me in wishing Jon all the best and thank him for his loyalty, commitment and work ethic over the last 27 years. Replacing Jon will not be an easy task, but we are busy continuing with our plans to grow Skipton’s BDM team and we are looking to recruit four new field BDMs and a new telephone BDM before the end of the year.”