Homeloan set to double in size when new office opens

Homeloan Management Ltd (HML) is to open a new office in Padiham, near Burnley, which will be employing 600 people in two years' time.

It will be the first time Skipton Building Society has moved a major part of its business out of Skipton but it can find neither the workforce nor the office space in the town to accommodate the rapid growth of HML.

While the name Skipton Building Society is well-known due to its chain of high street branches, HML has a much lower profile.

But its expansion plans will mean it employs more people than than SBS nationwide and by the end of 2003 will be processing mortgage assets to the value of £20 billion.

HML specialises in mortgage administration for 30 clients including such big names as Bradford and Bingley, West Bromwich Building Society, Citibank, Norwich Union and Scottish Widows.

When people with a mortgage with one of HML's clients calls, the query is dealt with by staff based at Skipton - even though the customer thinks he is talking to the society or bank with whom he arranged the mortgage.

Its latest success has been the acquisition of the mortgage administration business of GMAC, part of the General Motors group.

It is the 15th largest lender in the UK, much of it for the buy to let market, all done through financial advisers as it has no branch network.

GMAC will no longer have the fixed costs of looking after its mortgages, leaving that to the expertise and advanced computer processes of HML.

HML began with a small staff occupying part of one floor of what was then the SBS headquarters at Providence Place, off the High Street. But it has grown rapidly.

By 1990 it was employing only 45 but soon squeezed out the parent building society to new headquarters on the Bailey.

Now it employs around 600 and yesterday (Thursday) held an open day in a bid to fill 60 vacancies in Skipton, where it also has premises on Airedale Business Centre and Caroline House, opposite Providence Place.

But now it has outgrown those premises and the lack of suitable office space and Craven's inability to provide enough workers to fill the jobs has prompted the move to Padiham.

"We did not want to move across the border - we would have loved to have done this on our doorstep but premises is an issue and so is labour," said HML managing director Steve Haggerty.

"Not only that as everyone knows there is nowhere to park in Skipton. We have started a park and ride system for staff down at Sandylands but the Bailey car park is full and you have to say that if we took on 600 more people in Skipton, where on earth would their cars go?

"There is a plentiful supply of workers in East Lancashire and it is well situated for centres of population such as Burnley, Accrington, or Preston. We have had more people through our door in a couple of weeks than we would have in a year in Skipton."

Mr Haggerty said the opening of new premises in Padiham had been discussed for some time. The company had looked at Teeside, South Yorkshire and Scotland but concluded that Padiham was the best option.

Mr Haggarty said that many people in Skipton had still never heard of HML and the career options it offered to the local workforce.

"We still think we do not get enough recruits from local schools. They tend to go into higher education and then seek employment away from Skipton but we offer a great deal for someone looking for a career," said Mr Haggarty.

The creation of the jobs at HML will mean the loss of jobs at GMAC's Bracknell headquarters although some will be transferred north.

"This is excellent news for Yorkshire business and the North of England as a whole," said Mr Haggerty. "A top UK lender has chosen to work with HML against serious competition from multinational outsourcing and IT companies. We regard this as a significant demonstration of the quality of our service and our team."

HML currently administers assets of more than £11 billion but that will double by 2005 - ensuring that HML looks after five times the mortgage figure of SBS.