For this edition of Mortgage Introducer Talk, Simon Meadows meets Mark Eaton, who is chief operating officer of April Mortgages, a newcomer to the UK lending market. Eaton discusses the challenge of establishing a brand in a tough economy, and the importance of brokers not only helping people to get onto the property ladder but also stay safe on that ladder. He shares his career journey – forsaking his early ambition to become a professional footballer, for a life in financial services, where he began in banking before moving into the mortgages.

In this week’s Mortgage Introducer Talk podcast, we meet Jess Rushton, who is head of business development at Smart Money People, a UK website that has over one-and-half-million reviews of financial services. It uses the data provided in those reviews – customer hindsight - to create better foresight, and therefore an improved service, going forward. “We cover both consumers and intermediaries in terms of lender feedback,” says Rushton. “And now we find that a lot of lenders actually use our service to collect broker feedback all year round. So, they’re very keen to understand what brokers want on a month-to-month basis.”

For this edition of Mortgage Introducer Talk, Simon Meadows meets Kharla Mullen, who is chief operating officer at Countrywide Surveying Services - which conducts valuations and surveys of properties for lenders and purchasers. Too many people are failing to protect themselves by neglecting to get a survey, Mullen says. She explains about the critical role that brokers can play in encouraging home buyers to become better informed about the property they are buying. 2024 has started encouragingly, Mullen shares, with data suggesting a busy period of property sales in January.

For this Mortgage Introducer Talk, Simon Meadows meets Leon Diamond, the founder and CEO of LiveMore, a lender that serves the over fifties market. Diamond casts his eye over a career that’s taken him from Australia to the UK, driven by an entrepreneurial spirit and witnessing the problems his older relatives experienced trying to borrow in later life. “Our oldest borrower is a 99-year-old lady who took out a mortgage,” he says. “We’re very proud of that. We see this area as being quite underserved in the UK, but yet there’s strong demand coming through.”

Mortgage Introducer Talk meets John Jeffery, who is managing partner at later life lending specialist Senior Capital. An experienced statistician, Jeffery set up the business with his business partner Rudy Khaitan. He has some sage advice for brokers trying to maximise business. “It’s very simple economics,” Jeffery advises. “You need to be able to offer solutions, as many solutions, as wide a menu, as you can, to the people you distribute to. So, I would say focus on that because the drop down profitability from better conversion is 100%. It’s the best type of revenue you can generate.”

For this edition of Mortgage Introducer Talk, we meet Melanie Spencer, who is business partnership & growth director at One Mortgage System, which is a market leader in mortgage technology and lender integration. Spencer reflects on her twenty year career in the mortgage industry, the way it has changed and become more inclusive for women and the mentorship, camaraderie and friendship she has found in the profession. She considers how she has tried to stay ‘ahead of the curve’ throughout her working life. “The world is your oyster in this industry,” Spencer enthuses.

Joining us on the this edition of Mortgage Introducer Talk we have George Sanford, specialist broker at Vibe Specialist Finance. He enthuses about the wide variety of work that he does day to day and reflects on his working life so far, which he started as a builder, temporarily, before taking up a project management role with J. P. Morgan Chase. In his current role at Vibe, Sanford values the relationship building with others. “It’s such a crucial part of being a good broker is having that relationship with your clients and lenders and with the rest of the team,” he says.

For this Mortgage Introducer Talks podcast, we welcome into the hot seat Maeve Ward, director of commercial operations at Central Trust and Mercantile Trust. “The biggest challenge, at the moment, that we face,” shares Ward, “is the educational piece about helping brokers diversify their current businesses so that they can protect their income earning moving forward.” In the old lower rate environment, brokers didn’t need to think outside of their core business, she says. But now many customers are addressing affordability challenges by pursuing product transfers, and those who are locking into longer term fixes, may cost brokers income.

Our fascinating guest on this edition of MI Talk is Sam Whittlesea, from Whittlesea Mortgages. He shares how through client referrals he has built a business that’s proud to be smaller; to offer a more personal service. His was an unusual journey into the world of mortgages, from a background working with disadvantaged children. But Whittlesea believes there’s a connection between his earlier and present jobs. “They’re both advisory roles, they’re both mentoring roles, they’re both helping people move forward with their lives in different ways,” he affirms.

There’s never been a tougher time to be a first-time home buyer. With the soaring cost of living, high interest rates, and the feeling of owning a home seeming out of reach for many, how can mortgage lenders and brokers maximize opportunities in the first-time buyer market and help their customers get onto the ladder? Tune into this informative podcast that delves into what buying a home looks like in 2023, the options available to first time buyers, and what the future holds. You will gain essential insights on: • The key hurdles that first-time home buyers face, current market challenges, and how they overcome them. • The extent to which affordability is an issue. • Options available to first-time home buyers in the current landscape – and much more. Hit play and listen to the podcast now.

For this edition of MI Talk, we meet Siobhan Holbrook, director of Mortgage Light, who talks about how she set up her business. Having found her own experience of getting a mortgage intimidating, and overly factual she wanted to demystify the process for her clientele, to help them better understand what they were signing up for. To this day, Holbrook wants to relate to them in a way that is accessible and down to earth. “I like to help,” she says. “I like to make sure people are able to get their homes. That passion is still there.”

In this edition of MI Talk, we chat with David Hollingworth, Associate Director of Communications at L&C Mortgages. He shares how he got into the mortgage business after studying law and working for a theatre management company. But, realising that his true interest lay in finance, Hollingworth became an adviser and, now in his current role, he regularly provides commentary on the UK market to media outlets. As borrowers seek to understand their options, he says, brokers can shine, providing advice that is key to customers getting through an extremely difficult time.

In the financial industry for over twenty years, Claire Askham can claim to have been working her magic in business even longer than that. The head of mortgage sales at Buckinghamshire Building Society tells #MITalk how she started her working life sprinkling pixie dust for Disney, was a postal worker and even set up her own baby clothes market stall, before finding her feet in the mortgage world. Clearly industrious, Askham, is passionate about educating young people about the opportunities in mortgages. It’s important to challenge things in the industry, she she says.

For this edition of #MITalk, Mortgage Introducer ventures into the busy throng at the Mortgage Adviser Event in London; one of the profession’s key conferences. We get a sense of what it means for brokers and lenders to meet freely, face to face again en masse, post Covid lockdowns and post Truss/Kwarteng and that game-changing mini budget. So, expect lots of chat about the market currently…. Are there (finally) reasons to be cheerful? Guests: Fran Green from More2Life, Zahira Fayyaz from Market Financial Solutions, David Wheatley from Foundation Home Loans, and Joe Manns-Benson from Largemortgageloans.com

In this edition of #MITalk, Alex Witham, Regional Account Manager at buy-to-let lending platform Landbay, reveals that first-time landlords are still entering the market. “It’s more difficult now,” says Witham, “But there are still possibilities out there and there is still a profit to be made.” He explains why, as a mortgage professional in his early thirties, he thinks the industry needs youth, and reflects on how he thrives on challenges, be it in his work or when he hits the road on his motorcycle.

In the latest edition of #MITalk, Matthew Dilks, bridging and commercial specialist at Clever Lending, gives his take on the market currently and anticipates how it will evolve over the coming year. He shares how he started out in investment banking before starting his own brokerage. After taking a career break to become a full-time, stay-at-home dad, Dilks joined Clever Lending. He also reveals the highly active lifestyle he leads away from the world of financial services.

In the latest edition of #MITalk , John Phillips, National Operations Director of the brokerage Just Mortgages, talks about how it supports its nationwide team of brokers, how he himself got into the business (he very nearly pursued a career as an engineer), and how he worked his way up through the industry. Phillips reflects too on the excitement of seeing a new generation of advisers come into a sector which is, he says, better than it was decades ago.

Against the backdrop of a volatile economy and rising interest rates, many first-time buyers are questioning whether they will ever be able to enter the property market. With the hurdles to entry only increasing, how can brokers help their clients to overcome the most common set-backs that stand between them and their dream home? Listen to the latest podcast for MI Talk as experts from Skipton Building Society and LSL Financial Services reveal key insights into the new build market. Gain essential insights across: - The current state of the market and challenges for first-time buyers - How to help your clients enter the market and strategies to consider - The key role of the broker and what the future could hold for new builds

In this edition of #MITalk , Sarah Stroud, director of Truffle Specialist Finance in Cardiff recalls how her nan encouraged her into financial services. She loved the interaction with her building society customers so much that she worked her way up through the industry and remains as passionate today about helping her customers as she ever has.

In this edition of #MITalk, Ajay Nayyar, Owner and Managing Director of Hearthstone Mortgages, describes how he combines his industry role with his work as an actor and award-winning film producer, plus why he believes the term broker doesn't truly reflect the role.