Describe your firm in a few sentences

Willow Private Finance is a directly authorised, specialist, whole-of-market mortgage brokerage.

We are on panels with all the high-street lenders, as well as many of the challenger banks and private investors.

What led you to become a broker?

I used to work in corporate banking, so I have always had an interest in finance and lending. I was very much involved in commercial lending, so it was a natural step going into brokerage.

To have highly talented brokers who are bogged down with admin tasks seems counterproductive

Solving challenges for clients, building relationships and gaining access to information for people that can be difficult to get is quite rewarding.

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

The firm has seen substantial growth in the past 18 months. I’m delighted to say we have attracted some strong talent on both the administrative and broker sides of the business.

We have around 20 staff and aim to grow by at least 50% within the next 12 months.

Our model is different. My co-director, Wesley Ranger, and I agree that many broker firms and networks don’t work in a productive way. To have brokers who are highly talented in building relationships, providing solutions and closing deals, then allowing them to be bogged down with admin tasks, seems counterproductive.

Businesses need to be taking more responsibility over the resources, tools and training they provide for their brokers

As a broker, your income is entirely dependent upon the number of cases you can put together. That’s why Willow Private Finance works: we remove all the administrative tasks from our brokers so they can do what they love, while at the same time employing highly experienced administrative people to do the admin.

Let’s not forget it’s a horrible time for many brokers right now, thanks to the shifts in the market and service levels from lenders. Many brokers are finding they are working far more hours to achieve the same, if not less, income. Fortunately, this is not the case for our team of brokers, which is why we are recruiting the way are.

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

Communication is the biggest complaint we’ve seen about lenders across the board.

Every Wednesday our brokers meet for a case clinic. We invite them all onto a Zoom call to discuss the cases and challenges they have

We’re seeing established lenders overpromising and underdelivering for a given timescale, or not communicating at all.

I understand everyone is under a lot of pressure but at its heart they need to remember this is often a life-changing financial event for our clients.

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

Join a firm that wants to support and coach you. There are too many firms out there that just look at numbers and not the people.

We’ve got somebody within our team who had no financial experience but was tenacious and determined to become a broker. He completed his CeMap, joined our company as an administrator and is transitioning into a business development role at our firm.

Join a firm that wants to support and coach you. There are too many firms out there that just look at numbers and not the people

Every Wednesday our brokers meet for a case clinic. We invite them all onto a Zoom call to discuss the cases and challenges they have. If you’re looking to become a broker, getting exposure to things like this is important.

How can the industry encourage a new intake of brokers?

I can’t imagine anybody wanting to come into the industry as it is now, with the stress that a lot of our competitors are under, combined with their lack of resources. The calibre of brokers, thanks to this lack of support, is certainly suffering due to the environment our competitors create.

For example, I’ve interviewed 56 brokers so far this year and we’ve recruited just four.

We’re seeing established lenders overpromising and underdelivering for a given timescale, or not communicating at all

Businesses need to be taking more responsibility over the resources, tools and training they provide for their brokers. This way the experience, expertise and ambition of their brokers will grow with them.

Unfortunately, most of them focus on short-term goals such as comms percentage negotiations, rather than the long-term goals of productivity, skill and expertise.

If you would like your firm to be featured in Broker Focus, please email Mortgage Strategy reporter Becky Bellamy at: [email protected]