Franchised mortgage business Smartline Personal Mortgage Advisers has appointed national operations manager Jayson Billings to the newly created position of general manager.

Smartline managing director Chris Acret said the creation of the new role and the appointment of Mr Billings reflected the group’s focus on proactively driving growth in the next few years.

“Jayson has been an integral member of our management team since joining Smartline in early 2007. He has played an active role in a number of key initiatives, including the management of our merger with Mortgage Force and in rolling out our continually evolving service and support offering to our franchisees.

“Jayson’s appointment to the role of general manager will see him even more actively involved in identifying and creating new opportunities for Smartline, including our ongoing recruitment program and the investigation of new income streams for our franchisees.”