Mortgage bank Bristol & West is planning to be the firstlender to follow
in the footsteps of Bradford & Bingley and become a mortgage advice
intermediary.
Experts believe that the move will encourage other lender to blur the
traditional mortgage industry boundaries by becoming intermediaries
simultaneously.
Director of marketing Martin Palmer stepped down last week to dedicate
histime to developing the adv-ice-based strategy in conjunction with parent
company Bank of Ireland.
Palmer's project is code-named Advise Based Comp-any or ABCo.
He will initially be on a three-month mission to dev-ise the plan for an
advice-based arm, with a view to taking a permanent role at any new
operation.
The move by B&W follows B&B unveiling its plans to install John Charcol in
its branch network alongside its branch representatives and B&B's own
mortgage range.
B&W says it has a number of options for discussion but says an
advice-based venture is a possibility.
B&W says it will be releasing more detailed plans within the next few months.
Palmer says: “We are interested in the area of advice and the idea that it
might be worth setting up some kind of advice- based company.
We will reporting in the next few months if we like the look of the market.”
First Active director of marketing Ian Giles says: “After the B&B purchase
of Charcol, the market was waiting for the next organisation to follow.
This could be the shape of things to come as there is a blurring of the
lines between intermediaries and lenders. The answer to the question can an
organisation be both at the same time appears to be yes.”
B&B move, p7
