Specialist lender Together has appointed a new business development manager for the South West and South Wales.

Michelle Walsh (pictured), who has over 14 years’ experience in financial services, joined the south Manchester-based company last month to take up the newly-created role.

Previously, she spent over 10 years with Barclays bank, most recently as operations and risk manager within the intermediary mortgage business. Prior to that she held roles at Nemo Personal Finance and Legal & General.

Walsh said: “It’s really refreshing to come back to the specialist lending market after more than a decade with a high street bank. My experience helps me to identify those gaps in mainstream lending which Together has the expertise to fill, so I’m very much looking forward to building new relationships with brokers across the South West and South Wales, and introducing them to Together’s common sense philosophy.”

Richard Tugwell, group intermediary relationship director at Together, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Michelle into the team. She has a vast amount of experience working with brokers, and her expertise spans both the mainstream and specialist sectors, which provides a really rounded knowledge. This will be invaluable in helping brokers better understand the situations where a lender like Together can help.”