Founding director Collins returns to Sirius Finance
Rob Collins, one of the founding directors of Sirius Finance, has been reappointed to the firm as senior associate.
Collins has been living and working in New Zealand since 2021.
He was a property finance specialist at Commercial Property Partner for over a year, before joining the Bank of New Zealand as commercial property partner.
Collins originally joined the Brightstar Group, parent company of Sirius Finance, in 2012 as a director. In 2016, he became director of Sirius Finance and held that position until he left the country in 2021.
He has over 30 years of experience in financial services and has also been a director at the National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers (NACFB).
Simon Nichola’s return
Simon Nichola has also returned to Brightstar Group as senior associate at Sirius Finance.
He has 20 years of experience in the sector, spanning buy-to-let, commercial, bridging and development.
He was formerly a residential mortgage specialist at Brightstar Group, then joined Simply Specialist Lending as a specialist mortgage adviser.
William Lloyd-Hayward, group chief operating officer and MD of Sirius Finance, said: “We are delighted to welcome back Rob Collins to the Sirius team. Rob was a co-founder of Sirius back in 2016 and was a major contributor to the growth and success of the business before leaving the business to return to New Zealand. He rejoins Sirius with the same deep knowledge and experience that customers and lenders know him for and at an exciting time for our business.
“The arrival of Rob follows the addition of Simon Nichola, who joined us earlier in 2024. We have always prided ourselves on our commitment to best-in-class and these additions are just another example of that.”
Collins (pictured) added: “I’m delighted to return to Sirius Finance, which is a brokerage I co-founded back in 2016. There have been many changes since then, but the firm’s obsession with outstanding service delivered by high-calibre professionals remains. We have a very exciting future ahead of us. It’s good to be back.”
Nichola said: “It is great to be back working with the hardworking and dedicated team at Sirius, at a time where they have just gone through some really exciting changes. In line with our mission to ‘make the seemingly impossible, possible’ I can’t wait to get started on finding solutions for our clients’ needs and building long-lasting relationships.”
Shekina is the deputy editor at Mortgage Solutions and commercial editor at Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions. She has nearly eight years of experience in the B2B publishing market, having previously covered the hospitality, retail, pet, accounting and jewellery sectors.
Shekina has worked for Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions for almost five years. Here, she covers the market’s breaking news stories, engages with professionals in the sector, and oversees any commercially agreed content in partnership with mortgage-related companies.
This includes presenting webinars and hosting roundtable discussions on developing themes in the mortgage sector.
She is an NCTJ-trained journalist and was nominated for the Headline Money Awards Mortgage Journalist of the Year in 2021.
In her spare time, Shekina likes to read, travel, listen to music and socialise with friends.
She currently reports on current events in the mortgage market and liaises with financial clients to produce sponsored content.
Follow her on Twitter at @ShekinaMS
