The Mortgage Times Group Awards has rapidly established itself as an important fixture in the mortgage industry calendar. The glittering second annual awards dinner, in association with Platform, took place on Tuesday 6th March 2007 at the illustrious Claridge’s Hotel in Mayfair, and offered the management team at The Mortgage Times Group the chance to reward the achievements of key lender partners and the company’s intermediary members.
After another hugely successful year which saw The Group further establish itself as one of the most important mortgage clubs, networks and packagers in the UK, it was entirely fitting that the company offered special recognition to the dedication and innovation shown by its partners in helping to establish the fantastic growth. The company is now originating well in excess of £550 million in mortgage applications each month and has put ambitious growth plans in place for 2007 to develop at an even faster rate. The awards were dedicated to those partners who stood above the rest in assisting The Mortgage Times Group in making 2006 such a special year, and continuing this fruitful relationship for many years to come.
After the lively champagne greeting at Claridge’s luxurious Ballroom Reception surroundings, the guests were ushered into the dining area for a three-course meal prepared in Gordon Ramsay’s kitchen at Claridge’s. After this, Director of The Group Chris May settled everyone down and thanked all of the night’s sponsors GMAC RFC, DB Mortgages, Rooftop, Advantage, Mortgage Express, TMB, BM Solutions, West Bromwich for Intermediaries, Kensington, First National, Bright Grey, as well as main sponsors Platform.
May went on to outline that the firm had plans to bring innovation and opportunity into the mortgage arena over 2007, and outlined new ventures for 2007 such as a new point of sale system integrated with insurance providers and Trigold and linked with a back office system integrated with the majority of the lenders, and The Group’s new Training Academy initiative to encourage new recruits into the industry.
The evening also included a charity auction, where Platform’s head of sales Richard Beardshaw made the winning bid for the charity auction, donating £6,600 to The Nation Deaf Children’s Society and winning himself three nights in New York in luxury Five Star hotel Marriott Marquis in Times Square.
Host comedian Bobby Davro kept proceedings running along smoothly as the 23 awards were presented to each of the winners. The Broker Awards recognised the top performing adviser members of 2006 based on volume, completion ratio and the overall quality of applications. For the Lender Awards, intermediaries were asked for their views on the service received from lenders, which made the results totally independent.
Platform scooped the coveted ‘Best Overall Lender’ prize 2006 as voted for by our members, and a delighted Richard Beardshaw collected the award from Director Chris May. Best Online Lender was presented by Head of Marketing Payam Azadi, and the recipient BM Solutions Head of Key Accounts Ian Williamson. Williamson commented “We're delighted to be named Best Online Lender at the prestigious Mortgage Times awards. Our aim is to continually improve the service we offer to brokers. Removing the standard declaration has slashed broker administration and reduced completion times, and we'll continue to listen to what brokers have to say as we aim to make their lives easier.
Other lender winners included: -
BEST KEY ACCOUNT MANAGER
James Hamblin GMAC-RFC
BEST PRODUCT INNOVATOR
First National
BEST INSURANCE PROVIDER
Bright Grey
BEST SECURED LOANS PROVIDER
Future
BEST MORTGAGE CLUB LENDER
Northern Rock
BEST SELF-CERT LENDER
The Mortgage Business
BEST BUY-TO-LET LENDER
Mortgage Express
BEST ONLINE LENDER
BM Solutions
BEST SUB-PRIME LENDER
Kensington Mortgages
BEST SERVICE PROVIDER
GMAC-RFC
BEST OVERALL LENDER
Platform
In the broker section, Andrew Bailey of ASF Cymru was named best Directly Authorised broker, Mark Nathan of Berberry Consultants was best AR broker, and best AR firm were Imagine. Other winners included: -
BEST MORTGAGE TIMES BDM
Tim Lambert
BEST INSURANCE BROKER
Brendon Pardington, Imagine
BEST SECURED LOANS BROKER
Luke Petkov, Wildcross Properties and finance
BEST SATELLITE PACKAGER
Complete Mortgage Solutions
BEST BROKER NORTH
Sana Rana, Hassle Free Mortgages
BEST BROKER MIDLANDS
Gurdip Pathay, Liberty Mortgages & Financial
BEST BROKER SOUTH WEST & WALES
Andrew Bailey, ASF Cymru
BEST NEW BROKER
John Anderson, Swindon Mortgages
BEST AR FIRM OF 2006
Imagine
On behalf of Mortgage Introducer, we would like to congratulate The Mortgage Times Group on a fantastic night, and congratulate all the nominees and winners of all the categories of awards. The event showed the true distribution power of The Mortgage Times Group and we await the 2008 ceremony with baited breath.
