What does it say on your business card: Chief executive, Mortgage Advice Bureau.
Where are you based: The business is in Derby, but I live in Surrey. I tend to work in Derby four days a week, and in London one day.
What does MAB do: We are a franchise operation that puts financial services into estate agents in a variety of different ways, to suit the particular agent. It allows independents to compete with the ‘one stop shops’ of the corporates, and it also gives our agents a very valuable source of income. A typical case will mean they earn £200 to £250.
Presumably, the operation depends on agents passing on leads to the broker? Not necessarily. Our IT systems now connect with those of our member agents, meaning that we can constantly work their databases. Agents no longer have to pass us leads – they've got other priorities and we recognise that, so we have taken that responsibility off them.
How did the recession affect you: Badly! We went from 550 estate agency outlets at peak down to just above 400. But we are now back up to 450 branches and at the rate we are going, we’ll be back up to where we were before long.
Will the housing market pick up quickly? Unfortunately, no, and I am uneasy if anyone tries to talk it up. Lending is at an historic low and is only going to pick up perhaps 10% next year – levels will still be far less than half of what they were in 2007.
Are you a workaholic? Well, I haven’t had a holiday in years and I’m usually at my desk at about 5am. But I do try to switch off at weekends.
Favourite music: Anything and everything
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