Stonebridge, the mortgage and insurance network, has today (26th August 2020) announced it processed well over £1 billion worth of mortgage applications during July.
The network said this was a record month for lending applications, with the network’s member firms and their advisers placing over 5,500 cases during the month.
Added to this increase in new business activity, Stonebridge said its purchase/remortgage mix had now returned to a more typical split but with a predictable dominance of purchase cases which accounted for 58% of applications received in July.
Stonebridge also announced continued growth in adviser recruitment, with 22 new advisers joining in July to increase the network’s total adviser headcount to 709.
Furthermore, the network said this recruitment drive showed no sign of slowing down as the number of firms who have applied to join, now pending authorisation, is also at its highest ever level.
The network also gave an update on its operational status with Stonebridge and Revolution – its wholly-owned trading platform – now having a full complement of staff after those employees who were placed on furlough, returned to work on 1st August. No redundancies have been made in any of the Stonebridge group businesses.
Stonebridge offices in both Basildon and Nottingham have now reopened with safety and social distancing measures in place. Staff members continue to elect to work from home or to book a desk if required at each office.
The network said it was fully confident it could continue to meet the highest standards of service with such an arrangement and that its offices were safe for its employees who preferred to return from remote working.
Rob Clifford, Chief Executive of Stonebridge, commented:
“During what has been an incredibly challenging time for all, we are very pleased to be able to announce that July saw our AR firms and advisers place a record amount of lending applications, exceeding the £1bn mark after a very strong June.
“August is also looking positive, and the post-lockdown enthusiasm plus stamp duty changes are clearly creating increased demand for advice which our AR firms are well-placed to take advantage of, with the strong level of support we provide as their network.
“Throughout the year, despite the pandemic, we’ve seen a growing demand for the Stonebridge proposition from other advisory firms which has boosted our recruitment, but it’s also clear that our existing members also want to grow their businesses in order to meet the greater demand, and our recruitment team are highly experienced at helping to make this happen.
“By the 1st August we had been able to bring all furloughed roles back to the business, meaning we are now working again at the full complement of staff.
“All this combined, we feel Stonebridge and Revolution are bouncing back to impressive business levels. Our core aim is to continue to deliver the highest quality of support to our firms and advisers, making sure they can take advantage of the current market and lay the very strongest of foundations for whatever the market may have in store for us.”
