Bluestone Mortgages has appointed Carly Wiggins as a field-based business development manager (BDM) for the South West and Wales and has also promoted Ben Owen.
In the newly created BDM role at Bluestone Mortgages, Wiggins will develop regional business leads and opportunities and educate brokers on specialist lending solutions.
She joins from Coventry Building Society, where she was a BDM for around a year. Before that, she was a specialist property finance adviser at Puma Property Finance for a year.
Prior to that, she worked as a BDM for around five years, and before that, she was a mortgage broker at Connells for nearly three years.
She previously worked at Barclays as a mortgage adviser for nearly seven years.
Owen will take on the role of telephone BDM for the North West and Yorkshire. He has worked at the firm from 2019, initially joining as a broker support officer and then moving to broker support team leader.
In his role, he works alongside Nik Sukara, field-based BDM for Yorkshire and North West of England.
Wiggins said: “I’m delighted to join Bluestone Mortgages, and to work closely with the team to promote Bluestone to the broker community in Wales and the South West of England. As a growing number of customers are being turned away by mainstream lenders, I’m excited to continue to support this under-served segment of the market and enable brokers to help their clients achieve their homeownership goals through alternative lending solutions and products.”
Owen added: “This promotion is an exciting next step in my career at Bluestone. I look forward to building further relationships with brokers and educating them on our proposition.”
Mark Hollands, head of sales and distribution at Bluestone Mortgages, continued: “Growing the team to support the rise in adverse customers is a key focus for Bluestone, and Carly’s appointment and Ben’s promotion are a clear reflection of this.
“Carly and Ben will be invaluable in helping us grow our presence in these regions and educate brokers to better understand the range of specialist lending solutions available.”
Bluestone Mortgages has been growing its team, hiring Ben Curran as BDM and promoting Kelly Powell and Sukara to the role of field BDM.
Anna is currently the deputy editor for Mortgage Solutions and editor for Specialist Lending Solutions. She has worked as a journalist since 2019, having secured her Gold Standard NCTJ diploma from News Associates in a fast-track six-month course.
She started her career as a report at specialist publication The Insurance Insider covering a wide range of areas before joining Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions in 2021.
In her role, she helps put together and structure the news agenda for the day and writes up press releases, reports, interviews, analyses and exclusives across both titles. She also commissions blogs for Specialist Lending Solutions and hosts online masterclasses and in-person events across the business.
She has been shortlisted for three journalism awards, which include BIBA Journalist and Media Awards Scoop of Year Award in 2020, Headline Money Mortgage Journalist of the Year Award (B2B) in 2022 and 2023.
Prior to being a journalist, Anna worked in ecommerce across Snow + Rock, Cycle Surgery and Runners Need websites, and before that worked at specialist financial PR firm Rostrum.
In her spare time, Anna enjoys reading, seeing live music, and cooking for friends and family. When she gets a chance, she also enjoys hiking, skiing and indoor rock climbing.
