Afin Bank has appointed Emily Carr (pictured) as its mortgage adviser, and she will head up its in-house team of advisers.
She joins Afin Bank from Mojo Mortgages, where she was a mortgage adviser. Before that, she was a mortgage and protection adviser at Tenet Mortgage Solutions and Tenet Group.
Carr has also held roles at DMJ Mortgage Solutions, Police Mutual, HSBC, Halifax and NatWest.
The in-house team of advisers will primarily advise applicants that have been brought to the firm through Afin Bank’s Community Ambassador Programme, where a network of ambassadors in diaspora communities will introduce friends, family and other community members to the lender.
Afin Bank has reiterated that brokers and mortgage intermediaries will be the “backbone of its distribution strategy”, but the programme will help it “reach even more customers who are under-served by the mainstream banks”.
The lender launched mortgages after gaining full approval in July this year and has been widening its distribution base. This includes joining the panels of Brilliant Solutions, Simplybiz Mortgages, Connect for Intermediaries and Norton Finance.
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Alan Davison, chief commercial officer for Afin Bank, said: “Emily is a skilled and experienced mortgage adviser, but she is also passionate about treating customers as people, not just as an application. She’s the perfect person to help people from diaspora communities understand their options and find the mortgage they want, something they don’t get on the high street.”
Carr added: “I really feel like I’ve been building towards and preparing for this job all my life. I have all the skill sets needed to create this proposition and it’s exciting to [be] part of a new bank like Afin that’s trying to do something different, something with a purpose.
“Afin is absolutely a breath of fresh air. This role is about building relationships and giving good advice, helping people to be able to buy a home of their own. Our approach will be very much customer-led, taking our time with appointments to understand what a customer needs and their circumstances, so we can explain the different options available to them.”