Shepherds Friendly has appointed Laura Gauden as head of sales with a brief to grow the mutual society’s intermediary partnerships.
Gauden (pictured) brings more than 20 years of mortgage and insurance intermediary distribution experience to the 200-year-old mutual.
She now oversees the sales team to drive revenue growth and support the development of the society’s proposition.
Gauden’s previous role as national sales manager at Newcastle Building Society ended in December.
Prior to that, Gauden held various sales and account manager positions at the Chartered Insurance Institute, Payment Shield, CHL Mortgages, Virgin Money and Northern Rock.
In February, the mutual’s former head of sales, Laura Hassall, stepped into the new head of strategic partnerships role, where she manages service providers and network relationships.
Gauden said she was impressed by the culture at Shepherds Friendly and was excited to lead the sales team.
“Financial resilience has never been more important, particularly in today’s economic climate,” she said.
“The need for holistic advice and comprehensive protection is greater than ever, and with a significant protection gap still evident across the UK.
“It’s a privilege to be part of a member-focused organisation dedicated to helping more people build long-term financial security.”
Phil Nash, chief sales officer, said: “Laura comes to Shepherds Friendly with a vast amount of mortgage and insurance market experience and we’re incredibly happy to welcome her into the team at this exciting time of growth.”
In May, Shepherds Friendly formed a partnership with Primis, which has almost 3,000 mortgage advisers and more than 1,000 mortgage and protection firms in its network.
The society also has distribution agreements with SimplyBiz, Next Intelligence, Mortgage Intelligence, Paradigm and The Money Group.