Stonebridge has appointed Lisa Margolis as head of people as the mortgage and protection network continues to expand its support functions alongside ongoing growth in appointed representative firms.

Margolis (main picture) joins the business at a time when Stonebridge is increasing recruitment across a range of areas including mortgage quality, compliance, protection, software development and management.

Originally from South Africa, Margolis has lived in the UK for 20 years and brings experience gained across a number of sectors, including financial services. In her new role, she will oversee the group’s HR and people functions, supporting recruitment and development as the network continues to grow.

Margolis said: “I was attracted to Stonebridge by the quality of the people. When I sat down with the Stonebridge team, I recognised immediately that their approach to culture matched my own.

“This is a business that is delivering sector-leading results and scaling but still has the warmth and energy of a company that really cares.

“That’s something very special. It’s about putting people before policy and building them up, which is why Stonebridge has a great track record of promoting internally.”

Rob Clifford, chief executive of Stonebridge, added: “Lisa has extensive experience and her appointment is instrumental to our plans to continue growing our own employee base in line with the network’s growth.

“Our investment in people and culture has grown significantly over recent years and that investment is increasing yet further.

“It’s a fundamental part of the reason Lisa has joined us, and we know that culture is a key driver of our success.”

Stonebridge said it remains on a strong growth trajectory and noted that it added more appointed representative firms than any comparable mortgage network for the fourth consecutive year. The business is currently the second-largest mortgage network by number of appointed representative firms.