The first initiative centres on Rooftop’s aim to attract business from packagers who for one reason or another have no desire to use the satellite packager route.
From 1 September smaller packagers can gain direct access to Rooftop Mortgages products, through the Rooftop Service Centre, a newly formed extended hours resource centre based in Southend.
The lender will run the Rooftop Service Centre from Southend using staff and resources formally part of ICMG together with directly employed Rooftop personnel.
The move is designed to cultivate new business relationships with smaller packagers. To allay any fears larger packagers may have the lender has created a 'no poaching' policy for its Service Centre business.
The second change addresses the need to attract appointed representative business from selected networks where the ARs deal direct with lenders and will see Rooftop register as a direct to AR lender, branded as Rooftop Direct.
From 1 September Sesame ARs can access Rooftop Mortgages products direct. The lender intends gradually to extend this service through further network tie-ups.
The move to offer direct AR access is in recognition of the fact that there are some ARs for whom dealing through packagers is simply not an option.
The lender has no plans to deal direct with brokers or with the general public. Any such enquiries will be rerouted to an affiliated packager partner.
Rooftop Mortgages managing director, Jonathan Naylor, said: “These are big changes for us and they have been structured with our existing packager relationships very much at the forefront of our considerations. It would not make commercial sense to cannibalise our existing packager relationships so these two changes mark a move to bring new business into Rooftop. We very much look forward to building these new relationships with smaller packagers and network ARs and, importantly, to continuing the highly productive relationship we have with our existing packagers.”
