The Intermediary – February 2026 - Flipbook - Page 54
Meet The BDM
Harpenden Building Society
The Intermediary speaks with James Tuck, business development
manager at Harpenden Building Society
How and why did you
become a BDM?
I had already been with Harpenden
Building Society (HBS) for almost
two years when I transitioned into
my role as a business development
manager (BDM) in January 2026.
Previously I worked within our
product team, identifying and
developing growth opportunities.
When the BDM position came
up, I saw it as a unique opportunity
to use the knowledge and skills
I had developed within product
management, and in turn, apply
them to expanding our intermediary
relations strategy, further
contributing towards our growth
ambitions. As I’m still new to the
role, I am also looking forward to
representing the society nationally
and communicating our expansive
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The Intermediary | February 2026
criteria to brokers, especially to
those who may never have worked
with us before.
and develop a greater understanding
of the complete journey of both the
broker and the customer.
What brought you to
What makes Harpenden
Harpenden Building
Building Society stand
Society?
out from the crowd?
I returned home from Australia
in January 2024 and was keen to
begin working within the financial
services industry. Having grown
up in Harpenden, I was already
aware of the strong reputation the
society had; therefore, I saw it as an
ideal opportunity.
The society has actively supported
me, helping me develop my
understanding of the industry and
allowing me to progress to become
a BDM! Additionally, the size of HBS
provides a really great opportunity to
work across different business areas
Our manual underwriting process
means that we can take a commonsense approach to cases which
may be instantly declined in a more
automated process. Additionally, the
ways in which people receive income
has changed and our expansive
range of accepted income, alongside
this common-sense approach to
verifying income, means that we
are able to successfully adapt and
best support borrowers in this
changing environment.
We are also actively and regularly
developing our proposition, allowing
