March and April set record months for The Money Centre, with consultants processing £104 and £126 million worth of buy-to-let mortgages respectively, and May continued this trend with the company turning over in excess of £114 million worth of applications.
The Money Centre currently owns a 2 per cent share of the buy-to-let market. They have six offices nationwide in Chertsey, London, Sheffield, High Wycombe, Shipley and a head office in Norwich.
Mark Alexander, Managing Director, comments: “The buy-to-let market is ever-changing and we as a company have grown to accommodate this. We took a calculated risk last year and invested heavily into the expansion of our business. We opened four business centres, which effectively doubled our distribution. Our profits as a result took a hammering with investment going into infrastructure, recruitment and training, but the investment is starting to pay off now with three consecutive £100 million plus months for us this year. As well as talk about a slowing buy-to-let market, there have been recent reports of housing sales in the first quarter of 2005 being lower than in any period for more than 40 years. This makes our achievements even more incredible. Now that the hype around buy-to-let has settled, investors are looking to maximise their returns on investment while minimising risks and we are acutely aware of this market condition and are well positioned to provide the appropriate guidance.
“Our consultants and staff have played a central role in achieving these results. Our business is full of entrepreneurs who continuously contribute to our business model. We operate a team culture where everyone gives their opinion on how the company is run. This has led to free-flowing ideas that have saved us and made us money over the years. We are also extremely efficient at processing buy-to-let mortgage applications and providing first-class guidance to each individual investor. Due to our continued growth we are in a position to secure exclusive deals with lenders ensuring our buy-to-let clients have access to the most competitive interest rates available. Due to this and the dedicated personal guidance each client receives, we are finding more and more investors are returning to do business with us – in fact 80 per cent of our business these days is coming from repeat clients and referrals.”
