UK challenger Gatehouse Bank has added two new senior hires to its direct finance team following the appointment of Gemma Donnelly as Head of Direct Finance.

Mortgage industry veterans PayalGajjar and Alina Rauta both join Gatehouse as Direct Advisers.

Payal has extensive experience in the mortgage advice sector. She previously worked for RBS and, more recently, for NatWest as a Personal Mortgage Adviser.

Alina has a wealth of experience in face-to-face mortgage advice, including 10 years spent as a Mortgage Adviser for Barclays Bank and, prior to this, as a Premier Relationship Manager.

Both Payal and Alina will be based at Gatehouse Bank’s recently-opened customer service centre in Milton Keynes. This dedicated team liaises directly with consumers, complementing the bank’s long-standing intermediary network.

They will work under Gemma Donnelly, the Head of Direct Finance, who joined Gatehouse from Aldermore Bank last month.

Charles Haresnape, CEO, Gatehouse Bank, commented:

“I am delighted to welcome such experienced advisers to a team that is already providing outstanding customer service and advice to those customers preferring to contact us directly, instead of via brokers. Both distribution channels are important to us.”