The Group is looking to meet the increasing demand from its AR population for new recruits by introducing newly qualified brokers into the industry. The company has expressed concern about the lack of qualified individuals entering the industry to fuel its ambitious growth plans and strategic Appointed Representative practices, and the new academy scheme aims to progress network growth away from traditional headhunting practices to training and developing new recruits in the correct sales processes.
The academies are based nationwide, with two based in London and one in the North West. As the project develops more academies will be launched in other locations around the country in the future. This will eventually enable potential new brokers to become CeMAP qualified and progress to the next level of their development. The scheme will then allow qualified brokers to have the option after training to find employment in various propositions in The Mortgage Times Group network, subject to fitness and propriety checks and due diligence.
Christopher May, director of the Mortgage Times Group, commented: “What we’re finding currently is that most networks are looking to grow but there are simply not enough brokers in the marketplace to fuel our expectations. Many firms are becoming too focused on advisers with experience rather than looking at the grassroots of the industry, but to the keep the industry healthy an injection of fresh talent is vital.
The Mortgage Times Group is one of the few networks to have the resources to train and bring through new graduates to become competent advisers. We have strong enough Training & Compliance procedures in place to manage this, and the response has been extremely positive from our ARs so far.”
