Nearly one in four – 38% – of intermediary firms plan to expand, cites a new report from Paragon Bank.

In its ‘Mortgage Intermediary Insight Report’, in which it quizzed 350 brokers on various industry issues, the lender also discovered that only 3% of firms expect to shrink.

A further breakdown shows that 30% of firms are hiring experienced brokers and 19% are looking for new trainees.

And 22% wish to hire new paraplanners to help brokers concentrate on broking.

Regarding the employment market, just over half – or 51% – of the people surveyed said that finding experienced advisers is difficult, while 34% said hiring trainees is.

Perhaps in response to this, 23% of those quizzed said they will likely train existing employees and 34% said they had already done this.

Exactly one quarter of firms said they would be investing in more technology to help with their growth and 24% said new or additional marketing would be key for them.

Paragon director of mortgage sales Moray Hulme says: “It’s fantastic to see that intermediary firms are increasing their capacity by either recruiting or upskilling their existing employees in addition to investing in their marketing and technology.

“We know that businesses across all industries are anticipating some testing times as a result of the economic environment so it’s encouraging to see that brokers remain optimistic, so much so that they are actively investing in their growth.

“I think that this confidence lies in the strong levels of mortgage lending that we have experienced which is, in turn, driven by continued tenant demand and highlights the resilience of the property sector.”