Former Landbay director of intermediaries, Paul Brett, has joined forces with Brightstar Group to relaunch its Private Label lending proposition.
Brett will take on the role of project leader and work with brokers to identify opportunities to help clients whose needs are not being met by existing propositions.
Brightstar and Brett are working with lenders to develop products directly targeted at these demand areas, with plans to launch new offerings in the coming weeks.
Brett has worked in the mortgage industry for over 30 years, serving both lenders and packagers. He was part of a team that brought Foundation Home Loans to the UK intermediary market and most recently spent seven years at Landbay.
Private Label was a well-known packager in the intermediary mortgage market from the late 1980s to the early 2000s.
It was founded by Stephen Knight, Barry Searle, Jeff Knight, Simon Knight and Godfrey Blight and worked with a number of smaller, centralized lenders to design mortgage products. It was purchased in 1998 by General Motors, which became GMAC-RFC, and closed for new operations in October 2002.
Brightstar purchased the brand and domain in 2016 and launched several innovative products in July 2017, including an Airbnb offering and a credit repair mortgage.
However, Rob Jupp, CEO of the Brightstar group, said this Mortgage strategy that the market was not ready for the products and that “we needed someone with credit experience to lead.”
The brand was put into ‘hibernation’ as they waited for the right person to take it forward, with Jupp adding that Brett has extensive experience of the pressures facing lenders and the wider market sensitivities that need to be addressed.
Commenting on the relaunch and Brett’s position, Brad Moore, managing director and deputy CEO of the group, said: “This is an important step in the next phase of the Brightstar Group’s evolution.
“Private Label is a brand with a rich heritage and a huge opportunity to once again make a valuable difference in the intermediary market. Paul’s knowledge and experience are second to none and he has an impressive track record in bringing brands and credit propositions to market. It is a powerful combination and we are very excited about what the future holds.”
Brett says: “I am thrilled to have the opportunity to reintroduce the Private Label brand to the intermediary mortgage market. This is where we can innovate and offer something truly distinctive. The relaunch of Private Label demonstrates a true commitment to creating solutions that meet the nuanced needs of today’s marketplace.”
“In the coming weeks I will be holding workshops with real estate agents, the lifeblood of our industry, to find out what they actually need and what their frustrations are. I will then be a direct voice for lenders to design and deliver products that truly meet customer demand under the Private Label brand. And of course, as an interim proposal, Private Label will always stand up for the needs of our broker partners. It’s not just a revival; it is a new chapter.”