Masthaven founder steps back from executive role

Andrew Bloom founded Masthaven in 2004.

Masthaven founder steps back from executive role

Andrew Bloom (pictured), founder of Masthaven, is stepping back from his position as chief executive at the end of April 2020, with chief financial officer Leigh Bartlett taking over the role.

Bloom will continue as a shareholder and non-executive director.

He founded Masthaven in 2004 and went on to build the business from a specialist bridging lender into one of UK’s leading newly launched banks.

Bloom said: “Masthaven has been a major part of my life over the past 15 years and it has been a privilege to found, serve and grow Masthaven from the early days when it was just a handful of people to the specialist bank it is today.

"I am very proud of Masthaven and how its talented employees have always striven to deliver a personal solution for our customers and intermediaries.

"We have built an incredibly strong foundation and a great leadership team. As a non-executive director and significant shareholder, I will continue to assist Leigh and the leadership team in driving Masthaven forward.

"I’m very fortunate to be in a position to be able to take a step back from the day to day running of the business and have decided to take full advantage of this.

"I’m looking forward to the next stage of my life where I already have many plans including cycling through Botswana to the Victoria Falls, as well as various other charity and business endeavours.

"I’m delighted to announce that Leigh Bartlett will take over as chief executive from 1 May 2020.

"Leigh is an experienced retail banker and has my full support.”

Bartlett added: “It’s an honour – and great responsibility – to take over from Andrew.

"I would like to thank him personally for the support he has given me since joining Masthaven.

"I look forward to continuing to grow the bank, together with the Masthaven team, to become one of UK’s leading specialist banks in the UK residential and SME markets.”