Richard Sharp appointed as managing director of Freedom Finance Mortgages
Freedom Finance Mortgages Ltd (FFML), one of the UK’s leading second charge mortgage distributors, is delighted to announce the appointment of Richard Sharp as managing director.
FFML is Freedom Finance’s mortgage advisory business, focused on second charge mortgages, harnessing Freedom’s proprietary marketplace platform whilst partnering independently to service a growing customer base and partner network.
Richard has over twenty years’ executive experience in the consumer lending sector and joins FFML from Tandem Bank, where he was managing director of unsecured loans and customer proposition director. He previously held operational and leadership roles at Everyday Loans, Dollar Financial, Cattles and GE Money.
In his new role, Richard will lead the growth of the specialist second charge mortgage broker, which has seen significant recent increases in demand from both customers and intermediaries.
The second charge market continues to see significant growth, in 2022 the value of new business in the second charge mortgage sector increased 40% to surpass £1.5bn, and the number of new agreements also rose by nearly a third (31%) to exceed 33,000, according to the FLA.
In addition to this appointment, FFML recently announced the launch of a refreshed proposition to support brokers through its Freedom 4 Intermediaries division. Freedom 4 Intermediaries is a specialist second charge mortgage broker which helps intermediaries find the right borrowing solution for their clients whilst delivering market-leading customer service.
On joining Freedom Finance, Richard commented: “I’m delighted to be joining FFML at this exciting time for the business and look forward to helping to grow the proposition and offering. The current macroeconomic events impacting everyone in the UK make it more important than ever that our focus is on ensuring that we give our customers financial solutions that meet their needs. Freedom Finance is in a fantastic position to innovate and drive market change, and I look forward to leading this with the rest of the business, our people and our partners. ”
Andrew Fisher, chief growth officer at Freedom Finance, added: “I am delighted that Richard has joined to lead our continued growth in the 2nd Charge Mortgage sector. Richard’s experience and track record for delivering growth through innovation aligns perfectly to the sector’s own ambitions for growth. This appointment reflects our commitment to the mortgages sector and I’m looking forward to seeing the results driven by Richard’s innovations in this space.”
