Just Mortgages has stated that it wishes to hire over 100 mortgage brokers within the next 12 months.

Specifically, it wants to boost its self-employed arm from its current size of 345 brokers to 460.

It says that advisers working within this division “have the best of both words”, being independent and having the support of Just behind them. Just points out that 15 of its self-employed brokers took on staff recently, using the advisers training programme to do so.

As well as this, Just wants to increase the 20 brokers working in its new build division to 34 brokers within the next year.

Longer-term, the firm envisions moving from the 500 brokers it employs today to 1,000 by 2023/24.

Just Mortgages group operations director John Phillips says: “One of the side effects of the Covid pandemic, in a good way, has been former brokers returning to the mortgage industry.

“Mortgager advisers who moved career in the past, perhaps to run a pub or a restaurant, have been forced to rethink their employment opportunities, which have been dire for those in industries such as hospitality.

“These former brokers are rejoining at a very busy time as home buyers, buy-to-let investors and those seeking to remortgage need good advice.”