Smart Money has appointed Simon Nicholson as business development manager for the North West of England.

He will be responsible for Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham and the Midlands.

Nicholson has been working at the Smart Money head office developing new introducers and underwriting cases since March, while he started his new role on September 15.

Paul Crewe, director at Smart Money, said: “We have been fortunate in attracting the most experienced practitioners to help our expansion and Simon is a perfect example of someone who has forgotten more about business development than most BDMs will pick up in a lifetime!

“Coming from a first charge background, he has spent the past six months becoming familiar with our core second charge business and is champing at the bit to develop his region as successfully as his colleagues.”

Nicholson has over 30 years’ experience in the financial services market, having worked with intermediaries in business development roles for the Principality, West Bromwich Building Society, Citibank, The Mortgage Business and Kensington Mortgages.

He was also involved in setting up national packager Creative Mortgage Solutions as sales and marketing director between 2000 and 2008.

Nicholson added: “The lending market has evolved massively since I joined my first lender, but the principles of business development have not changed.

“Brokers do business with knowledgeable and professional contacts that demonstrate they can provide the right products and service every time.

“I am looking forward to working with our established introducers in the area and developing new business partners and demonstrating how Smart Money can help them and their clients.”

Smart currently employs four BDMs covering England and Scotland, as well as two internal sales teams at its Chester and Glasgow offices.