A formidable combination of two market leaders in their chosen fields

Who are Pivotal?

LSL Property Services and Pollen Street Capital both have an enviable track record investing in businesses and helping them to grow and prosper. In what to date has been a very fragmented intermediary mortgage market, the combination of these two businesses to build a national consolidator of mortgage and protection firms has long been overdue.

LSL Property Services plc is a leading provider of residential property services in three key markets: estate agency, financial services, and surveying and valuation services.

Services include: residential sales, lettings, land and new homes, surveying, conveyancing support, and mortgage and non-investment insurance brokerage and intermediary network services. Services to mortgage lenders include: valuations and panel management services, asset management and property management services

Pollen Street are an independent alternative investment management company whose focus is on financial and business services driving business transformation and investment performance.

In a world where business transformation and digital development is essential, Pollen Street are the partner able to anticipate change and accelerate growth.

Pollen Street has a proven ability to identify growth trends and changing customer behaviours and to target investments with a clear differentiated and distinct proposition in specialist areas.

Pollen Street work with partners who have a solid foundation and strong core attributes, supporting them and their management teams with expertise and capital to drive growth.

OUR PEOPLE

Meet the people behind Pivotal:

Simon Embley

Chief Executive Officer

Simon held several senior roles in Aviva in the late 1990’s including Strategy Director, International and Strategic Partnership Director Wealth Management. In 2001 Simon led the turnaround of the UK Property and Estate agency Division of Aviva, consisting of brands Your Move and e.surv.

In 2004, Barclays Private Equity backed a £42m Management Buyout led by Simon and his colleagues. The business was rebranded to LSL Property Services and was floated on the LSE in 2006 with a market cap of £208m.

Simon continued to lead LSL as CEO until 2014 and thereafter became Non-Executive Chairman. During his time as CEO, LSL acquired the mortgage networks’ Home of Choice’ and ‘Pink Home Loans’ which allowed LSL to further diversify from the residential estate agency market to eventually create the UK’s largest mortgage network.

Simon has continued to invest and Chair start-up businesses in Wellness with ‘RoadtoHealth Group’ and’ Eveclo’, and in insurance with ‘Zero Deposit’.

Simon is the architect of Pivotal Growth. He recognised that the UK broker mortgage market is highly fragmented and there are few investment, retirement or acquisition solutions for owner managed and other firms.

Now Simon is leading Pivotal Growth, he has stepped down as Chairman of the Board of LSL Property Services plc, he remains as a Non-Executive Director.

Jane Cross

Chief Operating Officer

Jane is a Chartered Accountant with over 25 years’ experience in Financial Services. After completing her training with a big four firm Jane moved into industry and has worked in the fields of re-insurance, insurance underwriting, insurance broking, mortgage and financial advice networks and treasury and derivatives. She has a track record of working with companies to enhance performance, manage risk, and to deliver corporate transactions.

Jane was the Chief Executive of Personal Touch Financial Services and led them on their sale from a PE house to LSL Property services in 2018. Since then she has been the Chief Risk Officer of Primis Mortgage Network and most recently Managing Director of e.surv, Chartered Surveyors.

David Copland

Strategy & Business Development Director

David was a founding director of Pink Home Loans, who grew to be one of the largest mortgage distribution companies in the UK. As Sales & Marketing Director he was instrumental in developing the Pink brand and was part of the Executive team that sold 75% of the business to the Skipton Group in 2010.

David was the promoted to Deputy Managing Director and then became the Managing Director at the height of the of the credit crunch and set about reengineering the business and concentrating on the mortgage network. This led the business to be acquired by LSL Property Services in 2010. Having worked on the integration of Pink into LSL Financial Services, David was appointed Director of Mortgage Services in 2012 and his role included running the TMA Mortgage Club. David has an enviable history of working in the intermediary mortgage and protection markets. A true professional, skilled in negotiation, business planning, operations, and sales.