Paragon has bolstered its credit and risk team by 30% so that it can liaise directly with brokers and vendors to progress an enquiry to an approved credit decision.

This will allow the sales team to spend more time working closely with clients and intermediaries.

To further streamline the application-to-origination process, six new employees have joined the payout team, which will liaise with brokers and vendors to generate documentation and gather additional required information.

Additionally, Ian Galbraith has been appointed to the newly created role of standards and performance manager.

In his new position, Ian will oversee the efficiency of the sales process and focus on how Paragon can improve its products and proposition.

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A further change will see the broker sales team split into three divisions: broker North, broker South, and broker central to support intermediaries across each region.

John Phillipou, managing director of SME lending at Paragon (pictured above), commented: “Paragon SME lending had a brilliant year in 2024, where we lent over £480m to SMEs across the UK.

“We are determined to support more customers this year, which is why we’ve implemented these changes to provide an efficient and high calibre service, making the lending process as smooth as possible.”

Stewart Good, sales director of SME lending at Paragon, added: “These changes will supercharge our lending operation, enabling our sales teams to focus on delivering for more customers, supported by a back-office team that can engage directly with brokers and vendors to efficiently process applications.”