Describe your firm in a few sentences.

Mortgage 1st is a modern, sleek and forward-thinking mortgage brokerage. We have worked remotely for many years, long before Covid-19 forced us all to! We understand that the majority of clients don’t want face-to-face sales appointments at an office or in their home – they want speed and efficiency coupled with excellent service. Ultimately, they just want to know as quickly as possible if they can actually get the mortgage they want – and that’s exactly the service we provide.

What led you to become a broker?

I fell into it by accident! I was working in a call centre and a friend had secured a job as an adviser at CIS – they generally took inexperienced people and trained them to become financial advisers. He got me an interview and I got the job.

I wasn’t great to be honest, but after a few years, my sales manager left to set up his own mortgage broker and he must have seen something in me, as he asked me to go with him. My journey into the mortgage world really started then. It certainly wasn’t something I dreamed of doing, but I wouldn’t change it for anything now.

What plans do you have for the future of your firm?

Big plans. Our long-term aim is to be one of the biggest brokers in the UK. That may sound ambitious, but we have grown from a one-man band to a team of nearly 30 – and we will soon have 20 brokers based all around the country. We have no plans to slow down our growth any time soon. We also want to maintain our high level of customer service, because as companies grow, it’s easy to lose sight of both that and your case quality. Both are fundamental to our business principles.

What single thing could lenders do to improve brokers’ lives the most?

Offer greater access to underwriters. Some lenders are getting better at this, but many are still a way off. Having easy access to an underwriter to discuss the ‘meat on the bones’ of a case could save so much time for both sides – what can drag out for days and even weeks over email can often be resolved with a 30-second phone call between a broker and an underwriter.

What advice do you have for a broker just starting out?

If joining a firm, pick your first company wisely. Make sure the promises made to you have some material backing, and don’t forget to talk to existing staff to make sure they echo what has been said to you. I’ve lost track of the number of advisers we have spoken to and later recruited where the reality is very different to the dream they’d been sold. We always offer potential new recruits the option to speak to any existing advisers to get their honest opinion. We have nothing to hide.

How can the industry encourage a new intake of brokers?

There needs to be more in the way of apprenticeships and on-the-job learning to encourage the next generation of brokers. To a young person starting out, there are just too many barriers to success. Most firms want experience and ready-made advisers, but you can have much better success moulding your own. That is something we are currently doing. We had an apprentice join our processing team aged 16; two years later, he progressed to become a GI adviser and is now making great strides. I have no doubt he will be a top mortgage adviser in a few years!

If you would like your firm to be featured in Broker Focus, please email Mortgage Strategy deputy editor Gary Adams at: [email protected]