I love seeing the difference that Equity Release can make to my clients’ lives, and I genuinely feel privileged every time someone new contacts me for advice.
Money and property are in my bones. I literally grew up looking at houses for sale! My parents spent hours looking in estate agents’ windows wherever we went. We’d spend almost as much time doing that as we did on the activity we’d travelled to do.
That could have bored many other children, but I was often as excited as my parents were – their passion for property was so infectious.
Without really being aware of it, I was constantly absorbing information about the widely differing market around the country.
I planned to own my first home as soon as I could and that came true when I was just 23.
This was an era when it wasn’t at all unusual for people to buy their first home in their 20s (today the average first-time buyer is 33). But, even so, I knew how lucky I was.
As a student of Finance – and the son of a bank manager – I sought to optimise my investment by renting three of my rooms to fellow students at my uni in Sheffield; and I still regularly see some of the friends who I shared with over 25 years ago.
Like many of the lovely clients I've met over the years, I wanted to make my money work for me – and to do my best to provide a financially secure future for myself and my family.
I worked in the City of London for a decade in Investment Management, but property remained my passion. I wanted to help others enjoy owning their own home as much as my wife Alison and I do.
In 2002, after much research, brain-storming and financial planning, I took the plunge and launched a high street mortgage advice business in Maldon, Essex.
It was the first shop of its kind in Maldon, and this was a time when most house buyers could still only access a mortgage broker through their estate agent – and these brokers would usually be tied to a panel of lenders, rather than having the access to the whole market that I could offer.
As the business – Mostly Mortgages – matured alongside my clients' growing house values, I became increasingly interested in also finding ways to help people enjoy the wealth that was tied up in their bricks and mortar.
I'd heard of Equity Release, and was intrigued by it, but it wasn't until seven years ago, when I investigated equity release for my mother and saw how effective accessing some of her housebound wealth could be, that I started to look into it in depth.
I wouldn't have let my mother near any kind of loan that I didn't wholeheartedly trust. But, once I'd realised how much Equity Release could help Mum, I became certain that it could be a great help for many of my clients too.
So, having done my initial research as a client, I studied for the additional qualifications to be an adviser in order to help other home owners access their equity.
Access Equity Release (AER) was born in 2017 and – a fantastic honour – the company was named Equity Release Adviser of the Year in the Investment Life & Pensions Moneyfacts Awards 2019.
The company has now been a finalist in these prestigious awards for four years running – a credit, I think, to our integrity, and the dedicated work that we invest in every case we handle.
I like to be hands-on with the business and remain actively involved in meeting clients as well as running the company – and I really enjoy this aspect of my work. Every property and client are unique, and the more challenging the case, the more I can learn about this fascinating, flexible, and growing area of the financial market – and that is something I relish.
