Standard Life doubles panel to meet demand

Standard Life Bank is doubling its panel to cope with its increased mortgage work.
The bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the insurance giant, has already appointed three firms to its already six- strong line-up.
These include Glasgow based Anderson Fyfe, Henderson Boyd Jackson WS and Marlow firm Gordons. The bank has plans to take on another three firms.
Standard Life Bank's mortgage service was launched at the beginning of the year with Edinburgh firm Burness as adviser and main supplier of legal services aided by a further eight firms including Eversheds, Hammond Suddards, Cleavers and Dibb Lupton Alsop.
Burness also has 62 staff, including 12 legal staff, in-house at Standard Life Bank to handle mortgage and re-mortgaging work.
Jim Spowart, managing director at Standard Life Bank, says: "At the beginning of the year we envisaged that mortgage applications would be a high number at about 3,000 a month. It is now actually double that."
Spowart adds that Burness will still be its main legal adviser.
However, he says there have been changes in the organisation of Burness's in-house team, with a number of administration staff now being employed on Standard Life Bank teams to handle the handing out of work.
Kenneth Ross, managing partner at Burness says of the remaining in-house staff: "They may not remain there for the future. It is dependent on the requirement. A decision has not been taken on that."
Spowart says: "It is a prudent business move to reorganise at the moment."