Nationwide to retain both specialist brands
15 May, 2007
The Society is to retain its two successful brands - UCB Home Loans and The Mortgage Works - as part of a strategic approach to specialist lending which will see intermediaries offered a wider and more comprehensive choice of products and services for their clients.
It is proposed that over a two year period following the date of the merger - scheduled for 28 August 2007 - UCB Home Loans will be relocated from its current headquarters in Sutton to Bournemouth where Portman's existing specialist lending subsidiary, The Mortgage Works (TMW), is based. The Bournemouth centre will house Nationwide's specialist lending division and will be headed up by a newly created senior management team. The two lenders will retain their identities and build on the already strong reputations they enjoy in the intermediary marketplace.
Although it is proposed that there will be redundancies from UCB Home Loans' current offices in Sutton, Nationwide will make every effort to transfer the skills, knowledge and experience of its employees and will encourage them to seek alternative opportunities within the organisation wherever appropriate. There are currently 330 employees working in Sutton for UCB.
Matthew Wyles, currently group development director at Portman will become executive director for Nationwide with responsibility for Non-Retail business. Andy McQueen, currently marketing director at Portman, will become Nationwide's divisional director for specialist lending. Reporting directly to Andy will be:
Paul Howard, head of sales for specialist lending - (currently director of intermediary sales at Portman)
Mark Goldman, head of operations for specialist lending - (currently director of production and operations at Portman)
Larry Banda, head of marketing for specialist lending - (currently head of mortgages at Nationwide)
Keith Astill remains managing director of UCB Home Loans.
Matthew Wyles said: "Specialist lending is a key component of Nationwide's new strategy. These changes will provide us with economies of scale which will, in turn, lead to greater efficiency and allow us to be even more competitive in this marketplace. This is really good news for intermediaries and their clients.
"UCB Home Loans and TMW are highly complementary businesses with very different product sets and distribution strategies. Both enjoy strong intermediary relationships within their chosen spheres. UCB is renowned for its strong service and TMW is seen as being highly innovative. We value the diversity that these two different lenders bring. We will be building on very sound foundations - with the backing of Nationwide's huge resources both lenders will become acknowledged leaders in their field."
