The ‘member-get-member’ scheme, which was announced at the BDS South Coast exhibition, will for last for the lifetime of the relationship. BDS has confirmed there is no limit to the number of ARs a member can introduce.
Commenting on the launch of the member-get member scheme, Bob Hope, network manager for BDS, said: “This is a thank you to anyone who recommends us to another mortgage intermediary. We want to be a network that grows together to build a profitable business and, at the end of the day, we are where we are because of our members.
“We have launched the incentive to create internal rather than external growth. We are gaining intermediaries rather than losing them and no one has left the network in the last six months.”
The move has been greeted positively by BDS members . Rob Marshall, director of Forest Edge Mortgages Ltd, said: “I think it is a great move by BDS, as it wants to expand and this is the way to do it. It is a reward for those that are loyal.”
Martyn Bonnin, director at Ivolv Ltd, who recently joined the network after being introduced by Marshall, added: “I spent three years directly authorised by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), and with all the hurdles it puts in the way it made sense to me to come on board with BDS Mortgages. I initially looked at both routes of becoming an AR and going direct and thought being directly authorised was better. But now I cannot see the advantages. I do not mind giving up a percentage of my business to BDS at all, as I can see the benefits from the support it provides.”
