"Whilst Open Banking remains in its early days, I hope to see more brokers and consumers educated on the benefits and successes that this solution brings"
FR: As head of business development at Bluestone, what does your role involve and what does a typical day look like?
I am responsible for managing Bluestone’s Business Development teams in our London and Sheffield offices. I also support our sales and marketing director with leading the wider sales team. Both parts of my role require a very hands-on approach. Not only in terms of supporting brokers during the application process, but also ensuring they are fully up-to-date with the range of products and lending criteria offered by Bluestone. I also head up our new broker support team in Sheffield.
A typical day can range from training and coaching the BDMs to looking after our intermediary partners to working on future product developments. I love building strong relationships with our brokers and seeing the positive outcomes that they’re providing for customers. Working closely with different colleagues and teams creates an enormous sense of achievement for everyone involved, especially as Bluestone continues to provide more and more underserved borrowers with access to lending.
FR: With Bluestone expanding its business development team in Sheffield, what would you say has been the biggest focus over the last couple of months?
Our biggest focus has been making sure that we recruit the best people, as that is the only way we can maintain the excellent service levels we are seeing across the board. It is vital that we bring on the most enthusiastic and driven employees to ensure our brokers have the helping hand they need. We know that having an effective, approachable broker support team will ultimately encourage more advisers to make use of the help that’s out there for their clients. Creating a second base to support brokers is therefore a vital part of Bluestone’s long-term growth strategy, and it’s great to be leading this exciting development.
FR: What do you feel are the main misconceptions about the specialist market?
A common misconception is that the application process is often difficult and slow. In reality, if applications are well packaged, they can fly through the process in a matter of days. This is why broker support and sales teams are so important. These teams are on-hand to help advisers with anything - from understanding our products and criteria to the application process - and also ensure that neither the broker nor the customer has to endure any unnecessary hassle or lengthy waiting times. This will ensure that any brokers looking to expand their business and move into specialist lending, as well as customers opting for this route, are confident that this market can support them.
FR: Bluestone recently became the first specialist lender to launch an Open Banking solution – how will this help intermediaries? Is there anything else you would like to see implemented over the coming years?
The development of API technology has helped to deliver improved user experiences. Specifically, the launch of our Open Banking solution has helped our underwriters analyse a customer’s spending behaviour in just a couple of minutes. As a result, waiting times have been radically reduced and the administrative burden that may have once slowed the application process down has been significantly reduced. Whilst Open Banking remains in its early days, I hope to see more brokers and consumers educated on the benefits and successes that this solution brings to the specialist lending market. As new norms emerge for today’s consumers, many will need more tailored lending solutions, and Open Banking can play a key role in delivering these positive outcomes for customers.
Over the coming years it would be great to see more resources made available to help educate advisers in this area. Speed and ease are the two main priorities for the mortgage market, and technology has a major role to play in delivering these. As the industry continues to progress quickly to adapt for changing consumer needs, tools such as webinars have proven to be an effective way of sharing industry updates with intermediary partners anywhere, anytime. With continued investment in this type of technology, more of the market can feel supported as it progresses in the months and years ahead.
FR: What opportunities are there for the specialist lending market in 2019?
Our Specialist Lending Tracker, which we launched earlier this year, revealed that more than half of brokers believe that specialist lending will grow by at least £1 billion over the next six months. This opportunity for growth no doubt lies in the changing consumer lifestyles and habits which are altering the way borrowers need access to lending. The levels of household debt across the UK have been rising quite noticeably, and as it stands, average household debt now sits at a record £15,400 according to the Trade Union Congress.
A key contributor of this may be unforeseen life events. For example, if an illness, accident or divorce takes a toll on a borrower’s finances, it could leave them discouraged in their search for affordable lending. However, specialist lenders understand that these are usually one-off, not repeat events, and are there to provide tailored solutions to suit individual needs. As customers with adverse credit continue to form a bigger part of brokers’ portfolios, the specialist lending market is set to go from strength to strength.
FR: If you could see one headline in 2019, what would it be?
“Specialist lenders help a record number of customers who have suffered a life blip onto the property ladder.”
