Together has widened its distribution network with two new hires.

Marylen Edwards is its new key account manager in the South, while Russell Harvey joins as a specialist underwriter covering London and the South East.

Edwards (pictured) began her career as a mortgage and commercial manager with Lloyds in 1994 before becoming a buy-to-let and commercial broker for Mortgages for Business. After a spell as an independent adviser, she took up a role as a commercial manager at Metro Bank. Before joining Together, she was head of buy-to-let business at Axis Bank.

In her new role, she will be strengthening relationships with the specialist lender’s key partners – through its Together+ initiative – expanding the distribution of its residential, commercial, buy-to-let and bridging finance products.

She said: “I have a diverse background in personal and commercial finance, including a great deal of experience in the buy-to-let market. This means I can be a one stop shop for brokers as we continue growing our business.”

Meanwhile, Harvey spent 13 years as a loans manager at Abbey National building society and a decade as a directly authorised (DA) broker and co-owner of Westminster Mortgages, before joining specialist distributer Synergy Mortgages.

He became an underwriter at Buckinghamshire Building Society and the Bank of Cyprus before taking up a new role as a key account underwriting specialist in London for Foundation Homeloans.

At Together, he will be working closely with Sundeep Patel, Together’s head of London intermediaries, explaining and promoting the lender’s specialist offering.

Harvey said: “I already have a number of great relationships with leading brokers in London and the surrounding areas and I’m really looking forward to developing these, at a time when Together extends its network across the region.”

Edwards will report to Nick Jones, Together’s head of specialist distribution, while Harvey’s team is led by Tanya Elmaz, underwriting specialist regional manager.

Jones said: “Marylen and Russell both have a wealth of knowledge and experience of the market. Marylen will be working with brokers in the Together + group, which we launched this year and is designed to build strong partnerships with a select group of specialist distributers.”

Elmaz added: “Underwriting is now at the sharp end of sales, rather than the back office function it once was, particularly in the specialist sector. Following Russell’s appointment, brokers in London and the South East will have better access to his expert knowledge and we are expecting a healthy demand from across the region.”