The Mortgage Lender (TML) has bolstered its leadership team with the appointment of Neil Hornsby as chief risk officer and Gemma Porter as the new head of credit.

Hornsby sits on the TML executive committee and its board, and will be responsible for managing credit risk, conduct risk, regulation, and compliance, which includes managing TML’s response to upcoming Consumer Duty legislation.

He joins TML with three decades of experience in the finance and property sector, having worked with Shawbrook, where he was property risk director. Prior to this he worked at Barclays where he was director of mortgage credit risk.

Reporting to Hornsby, Porter will be responsible for developing TML’s current credit framework, providing direction and guidance to the underwriting team on risk appetite, while creating and maintaining lending policies. In addition, Porter will be developing the company’s risk and credit management framework for residential and buy-to-let products. In this role, she leads a team of MI & credit analysts and a credit manager.

Porter joins TML with 20 years of experience having worked for a number of lenders and banks in the industry, including Shawbrook, where she spent more than 16 years in both credit and risk roles. These included several senior management positions, and most recently head of platform lending & acquisitions risk.

Peter Beaumont, CEO of TML, said: “We are pleased to welcome Neil and Gemma to the TML family. They bring with them a wealth of experience when it comes to understanding and crafting a business’s approach to credit and conduct risk structures, as well as compliance and regulation, and we look forward to each of them sharing their expertise as we evolve our credit policies which will support the business with its growth plans.”

Hornsby stated: “TML is dynamic, young, and ambitious in its culture, and embodies being a real-life lender through and through. With the current market going through a period of uncertainty, and such a focus overall on affordability, TML seeks to make finance simpler and meet the needs of its customers.

“Being a fast-growing business, I look forward to helping TML in its next phase of development and growth and will be looking to build a best-in-class risk team as a part of that journey.”

Porter added: “TML is at a pivotal moment in its growth phase and I am looking forward to playing my part in its future development. This creates an opportunity to influence key lending strategies with growth and diversification in mind. TML has a solid backbone already in place in terms of its credit policies, people, expertise, and culture, so I am keen to join the team and assist in advancing their position in the market.

“There is a lot to learn from data and MI, and I am eager to utilise credit analytics to enhance the business’ proposition.”