"I want to break down the stigma around financial advice"
With the attention of the Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, and the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, plus a regular slot sharing mortgage advice on ITV’s This Morning, Sarah Tucker is on a roll. Now, Tucker (pictured during a Downing Street visit) is expanding her highly successful female-led brokerage The Mortgage Mum, with a new offering as part of its brand.
Why The Mortgage Mum went to Downing Street
Tucker, who launched The Mortgage Mum in 2018, recently attended separate meetings with the Prime Minister and the Chancellor in Downing Street, as part of the government’s change agenda.
“Downing Street contacted me and requested that I come in,” Tucker explained. “They just said that there was something that they wanted me to work on. There were five of us there, including a doctor and a teacher. I met Keir Starmer that day, which I wasn't expecting. He said we had been chosen by his team because they felt that we had the ability to translate information and influence others in a unique way in our sectors that was really different to how they've ever seen it before - and so they wanted us to give input. He was very friendly, and very nice.”
She continued: “HM Treasury contacted me off the back of Downing Street’s recommendation, to invite me to a meeting of finance experts with Rachel Reeves. I was representing the whole of the sector which is quite mind blowing really. I think she's doing the best she can, I don't think she's going to please everyone, but it’s really important to see women in positions of power, particularly in government. It helps to build trust and a belief that there are opportunities for women, not just in our sector but all over the UK. It seems to me that they do want to invest in understanding what people want and what people are saying. It seems like it's an ongoing relationship that they want to keep having, which is quite exciting really.”
Tucker is clearly highly engaged with the conversation around change in the UK and values having a voice in the debate, but despite her forays into Westminster, she rules out a move into politics. “I'll probably eat my words, but no, that's definitely not my priority,” she said, adding: “I'm not an economist and I'm not a politician, but I do like to listen with an open mind where I can.”
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The Mortgage Mum brand expansion
Now, Tucker’s brand is expanding - The Mortgage Mum Wealth, set up in partnership with New Leaf Distribution network, will provide wealth management and financial education, aiming to help clients to take control of their financial future, while also taking financial education into schools. Tucker believes that some people are shy of seeking financial advice because they simply believe they aren’t wealthy enough.
“I think there's a bit of a stigma that you've got to have a lot of money in the bank for an IFA to bother to want to deal with you,” Tucker said, adding that clients would not have to have a minimum fund value to consult her business. “We really want to break that down because actually everyone needs financial advice on where to put their money for their children, how to build wealth for them. We’re excited to make it more accessible, make it more friendly, which is what we did with mortgages.”
She added: “There's also a huge need for secondary school children who are growing up in an Instagram culture to be supported to understand how to build credit and not to get themselves into credit card debt before they've even started earning decent money.”
As The Mortgage Mum’s founder and managing director, Tucker acknowledges that there is a risk of expanding her business too quickly, but she believes it is important to sustain the levels of service that it does currently. “There is always a risk of saturating what you've done, but as long as we make sure that what The Mortgage Mum is known for filters through every single business, we’ll be fine,” she said. “We've got really strong core values in the business. The timing is perfect - we figured we'd strike while the brand is hot and try to tap into another market.”
