Chetwood Bank has appointed Alan Cleary (pictured) as interim managing director of its mortgages division, following the departure of Andrew Arwas from the role.
Cleary, with more than 30 years of experience in specialist lending, is best known for co-founding Charter Court Financial Services, which merged with OneSavings Bank (OSB Group) in 2019.
He led the Precise Mortgages, Kent Reliance for Intermediaries and InterBay Commercial brands until his retirement in 2021. In 2024 he was named chair of Chetwood Bank’s mortgage advisory board.
Arwas, one of the original founders of Chetwood Bank in 2016, has held several positions including head of delivery and corporate development, and director of transformation.
As managing director of mortgages, he oversaw the launch of the ModaMortgages proposition and the acquisition and integration of CHL Mortgages for Intermediaries.
Chetwood Bank confirmed it will name a permanent successor to Arwas in due course.
Cleary said: “The vision Chetwood Bank has for increasing funding into the buy to let market and working with brokers to help even more of their landlord clients persuaded me to come out of retirement, so I’m delighted to be able to step up and help steer the bank through the next stage of its growth journey.”
Paul Noble, chief executive of Chetwood Bank, said: “I’m delighted to announce that Alan has agreed to take over the reins of our mortgages division.
“We’re fortunate to have such an experienced and safe pair of hands available to us while we look to appoint a permanent successor to Andrew.
“Andrew is one of Chetwood Bank’s original founders and played a crucial role in helping us expand from a small startup to the successful digital challenger bank we are today.
“I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Andrew for everything he did during his time here and to say how grateful we are for his drive, determination and vision.”
