According to Mark Bergin, director of sales and marketing at TMB, the lender aims to attract around half its business from packagers and half direct from brokers. It currently originates around 75 per cent of its mortgages from packagers.
Bergin denied that the change in direction was anything to do with the promotion of Michael Bolton, to head of BM Solutions and Halifax intermediary business.
Bolton is well known for dismissing packagers as no longer relevant to the intermediary market.
“Every time we make changes people question our relationship with BM but we are a separate business and are still very much committed to our packager partners,” said Bergin.
“If the question is, did this come from Michael Bolton, then the simple truth is no.”
He added: “There is a feeling within the market that a number of packagers will exit the market anyway over the next year or so. Running a company like ours we believe that it is important to have an even spread of how we come by our business.”
Julian Wells, head of marketing at Mortgages plc, said: “From our perspective we were already reducing our dependence on packagers before regulation came into force.”
He went on to say that he agreed with Bergin that market sentiment suggested there would be room for fewer packagers.
“Only the bigger ones and those who add value to the lenders will survive. Though what is defined as value will change from lender to lender,” he said.
Commenting on the news Matthew Bright, managing director of Optoma (who package for TMB), said: “Their (TMB’s) service record has done enough to alienate packagers as it is.”
Paul Brett, head of small packager alliance Freehold, commented: “We were told before Christmas that TMB would be culling their packagers. Lenders must be careful that they are not short-sighted and dispose of quality when aiming for quantity.”
