The rebrand, taking place on 4 October, will not include the First National and igroup brands which will remain on first and second-charge mortgage products due to brand value. However, all unsecured products will be rebranded.
Duncan Berry, director of mortgage sales at GEMHL, said: “The benefits that come with a broad international reach help us to stay ahead of the game. Customers benefit through this brand consistency.
“For example, a UK resident buying a property abroad may be able to obtain financing with a GEMHL sister company in that country and be sure that they are not just getting the right local expertise but also the security of the GEMHL brand promise.”
Some brokers are sceptical and believe the rebranding would make little significant difference to intermediaries and would cause more ripples in direct-to-consumer organisations.
Andy Frankish, managing director at Mortgage Talk, said: “There are big costs involved in maintaining different brand identities and, although this sounds more of a cost-cutting exercise than streamlining of business, if the money saved is ploughed into other areas then it could certainly benefit brokers.”
But Rob Clifford, managing director of Mortgageforce, commented: “I’m not sure whether it makes much difference to intermediaries. Substituting ‘Consumer Finance’ for ‘Money’ is a relatively minor change to make. It would have more impact in a direct-to-consumer capacity as consumers are sensitive to terms like ‘Consumer Finance’. ‘Money’ may be more appealing.”
