YBS Commercial Mortgages has appointed two relationship directors to the lender’s North team.
Alaster Leslie has worked in commercial banking since 2015, and joins YBS Commercial from TSB, where he worked for nearly six years, first as commercial operational support manager, then business development relationship manager.
He also worked at RBS for eight years, most recently as a business manager.
Leslie has experience working with small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), and at TSB, he worked with firms to help them obtain funding solutions.
Kim Donovan has also joined the YBS Commercial Mortgages team, and she has worked in the sector for more than 38 years.
This includes five years at TSB, most recently as a business development manager (BDM), as well as 39 years at Lloyds Banking Group holding various roles such as BDM, branch manager and, most recently, commercial banking relationship manager.
Leslie said: “I’m really excited to join the North team during this growth period. Having seen the positive impact YBS Commercial Mortgages is having on the sector, I’m really looking forward to being part of this journey, supporting SMEs and working with new and existing stakeholders to provide fantastic service to our clients”.
Donovan added: “I am delighted to join and share the business’s goal of achieving growth within the commercial mortgages sector, all delivered in line with our commitment to providing the best possible outcomes for our brokers and their clients.”
Mark Heckels, regional director for the North team at YBS Commercial Mortgages, said: “I’m so pleased to welcome Alaster and Kim to the business, and I look forward to seeing the contribution I am confident they will make.
“This recruitment drive demonstrates our commitment to strengthening our regional teams to ensure we provide the best possible support to the commercial market, and to all our clients.”
Last month, YBS Commercial Mortgages hired Angela Norman in the newly created role of head of lending.
Shekina is the deputy editor at Mortgage Solutions and commercial editor at Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions. She has nearly eight years of experience in the B2B publishing market, having previously covered the hospitality, retail, pet, accounting and jewellery sectors.
Shekina has worked for Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions for almost five years. Here, she covers the market’s breaking news stories, engages with professionals in the sector, and oversees any commercially agreed content in partnership with mortgage-related companies.
This includes presenting webinars and hosting roundtable discussions on developing themes in the mortgage sector.
She is an NCTJ-trained journalist and was nominated for the Headline Money Awards Mortgage Journalist of the Year in 2021.
In her spare time, Shekina likes to read, travel, listen to music and socialise with friends.
She currently reports on current events in the mortgage market and liaises with financial clients to produce sponsored content.
Follow her on Twitter at @ShekinaMS
