Finova Appoints Tom Tredwell as Director of Data to Scale AI and Mortgage Insights

Finova has appointed Tom Tredwell as Director of Data to spearhead a new next-generation data strategy. For fintech professionals, this move signals a major shift toward leveraging anonymised market insights and AI-driven efficiencies within the UK mortgage sector, where Finova currently powers one in every five mortgage transactions.

What was announced

Finova, recognized as the UK’s largest provider of cloud-based mortgage, savings, and lending software, has recruited Tom Tredwell to lead its data-centric evolution. Reporting to David Espley, Chief Technology Officer at Finova, Tredwell is tasked with developing a strategy that responds to the increasing demand for actionable market insights and emerging industry trends from brokers, lenders, and savings providers.

The strategy focuses on two primary pillars: enhancing AI capabilities and driving operational efficiency across the mortgage journey. With nearly £50 billion in loans and savings currently under management, Finova intends to utilize its vast repository of data to provide clients with faster insights into business performance, product efficacy, and competitor positioning. This approach relies on the responsible use of rich, anonymised data to ensure compliance and resilience while scaling technology.

Tredwell joins the firm from Shawbrook Bank, bringing over two decades of experience in the mortgage industry with a specific focus on data, reporting, and analytics. His background includes both corporate and entrepreneurial ventures, notably serving as a founding shareholder of The Mortgage Lender prior to its acquisition by Shawbrook Bank. The appointment comes at a time when the UK Government’s Smart Data initiative estimates that interoperable data sharing for homebuying could generate £14.1 billion in net social value and contribute £2.06 billion annually to the UK GDP by 2043.

"Tom brings a rare combination of deep mortgage industry expertise and extensive experience across data and technology and will play a pivotal role in building the scalable, well-governed data foundations we need to develop better products, improve efficiency and deliver greater value for our clients and their customers."

Gareth Richardson, Chief Executive Officer at Finova.

The companies involved

Finova is a dominant force in the UK financial technology landscape, specializing in cloud-based software solutions for the mortgage, savings, and lending markets. The firm’s infrastructure is a critical component of the UK housing market, supporting approximately 20% of all domestic mortgages. By providing the underlying technology for a vast network of lenders and brokers, Finova sits at the center of a massive data ecosystem.

Shawbrook Bank, where Tredwell most recently served, is a specialist UK savings and lending bank that has grown significantly through both organic development and strategic acquisitions. One such acquisition was The Mortgage Lender, a specialist intermediary-only lender. Tredwell’s history as a founding shareholder at The Mortgage Lender highlights his experience in building financial entities from the ground up before they are integrated into larger banking groups like Shawbrook. This blend of startup agility and institutional scale is central to Finova’s current growth trajectory as it seeks to modernize legacy mortgage processes through cloud and AI technologies.

What FF News has reported before

Finova has been consistently expanding its technological footprint and leadership team over the past year. FF News previously reported on the company’s innovation in the automation space with Finova Launches UK’s First Whole-of-Market AI Agent to Automate Mortgage Applications. This focus on automation was preceded by a recruitment drive detailed in Finova Strengthens Manchester Hub With Senior Appointments to Power Next Growth Phase.

The firm has also been active in enhancing its broker-facing tools, as seen in Finova Broker Payments Partners with Mortgage Broker Tools to Deliver Enhanced Research Capabilities for Brokers. Internal leadership changes have also been a theme, including when Finova Broker Promotes Ben Radford to Head of Broker Payments earlier this year.

What this means

Finova’s appointment of a dedicated Director of Data is a clear admission that software alone is no longer a sufficient differentiator in the mortgage tech space. By hiring a veteran from Shawbrook Bank and The Mortgage Lender, Finova is signaling that it intends to pivot from being a pure SaaS provider to a data-intelligence powerhouse. This move puts pressure on smaller mortgage tech vendors who lack the scale to provide "whole-of-market" insights. The focus on AI-driven resilience suggests that Finova is preparing for a future where mortgage underwriting is not just automated, but predictive. Watch for Finova to begin launching proprietary benchmarking tools that allow lenders to see how their products perform against the wider market in real-time.