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Mortgage broker moneyQuest has announced major changes to its management team, including the appointment of Paul Gratton as executive chairman, with immediate effect.

Several of the new appointees were involved in the launch of both First Direct and Egg.

The new management team will work closely with Paul Reynolds, moneyQuest’s existing managing director.

Gratton started his career at Midland Bank and was part of the think tank that created First Direct where he was financial services director.

From there he went on to play an integral part in the start up team that became Prudential Banking and ultimately Egg.

Gratton was COO when Egg launched in 1998 and become Egg’s CEO in January 2001. Since leaving Egg, he currently splits his time across a range of executive and non executive roles.

Simon Jackson, chief operating officer, has over 20 years experience in financial services and operations. His initial career was in branch banking with Midland Bank and at HSBC where he ran the card services operation.

Jackson joined Egg in 1998, ultimately ending up running its entire back office operation. In 2004 he became COO of the retail division of Aon responsible for all the teams managing the placing and maintenance of commercial insurance programmes for Aon’s global clients.

Andy Thompson, marketing and strategy director, has over 25 years experience in retail financial services sector. He joined First Direct from HSBC in 1988, where he was accountable for the strategic development and commercial management of the Mortgage, Unsecured Lending and debt protection portfolios of First Direct.

In 1998, Thompson joined the Prudential as part of the Egg launch team and undertook a range of roles including launch manager for the Egg card, head of customer proposition and head of lending and payments.

Tony Lynch, finance director, joins MoneyQuest from Artilium Plc (LSE:ARTA), where he was chief financial officer of this AIM-listed mobile technology business.

Artilium announced in January that Lynch would be relocating overseas with his family at the end of February. He previously worked at Aspect Capital Ltd, a specialist hedge fund management business where he was director of finance.

His experience also includes his roles as chief operating officer at Select Asset Management and as group financial controller of Egg following a period working as audit manager with Arthur Anderson in its financial markets division in London.

Darren Fox, sales director, has worked for a number of organisations including Lincoln Financial, Bradford and Bingley, Egg Banking and Investments, Prudential, Barclays Retail Banking and one of the UK’s leading IFA groups.

Roles have included managing sizeable new business launches, helping to create and then run financial advice call centres and heading up a mortgage and lending sales business.

Most recently he has been creating a direct mortgage offer within a large IFA group and as a result transforming sales volumes and quality.

Reynolds, managing director, is the co founder of moneyQuest (UK) Ltd which was founded 18 years ago. The company was an early pioneer of internet and telephone based mortgage and insurance broker.

Under Reynold’s leadership, moneyQuest has been recognised through “Best Companies” Awards 2006, 2007 and “Best Overall Business in Glasgow” 2006.

Steve and Derek Pollard, co-founders of moneyQuest, have both resigned from the business as directors but will both continue to support the business.

Steve is now based in Australia and focussing on building a mortgage broking business based in Perth. Derek will be taking a short sabbatical from the business and then return in a business development role working with Reynolds.

Source:  Director of Finance online, March 2008