Better Business
Hint for packaging firms on how to beat the downturn
Packaging firms that have moved to diversify their offering and invested in technology are the most …
Packaging firms that have moved to diversify their offering and invested in technology are the most likely to survive the turbulent market conditions, industry figures have said amid predictions the year ahead will lead to widespread consolidation.
Speaking at the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ (CML) annual conference in London last week, Stephen Knight, executive chairman of Checkmate Mortgages, predicted there would be increasing consolidation in the packager industry as a result of this year’s liquidity issues. He commented: “I think a lot of them will disappear, but many provide a very good service, particularly to the smaller intermediaries.”
Knight said that with a ‘sourcing influence and technology-based approach,’ packagers could survive and thrive in the post credit-crunch market. He added: “The satellite packagers, brokers that want to do a minimum amount of paperwork for a maximum fee, and those who are in the lead buying space, have fewer prospects.”
Ian Balfour, sales and marketing director at Solent Mortgage Services, agreed with Knight, adding that any company not offering state of the art technology and making itself more efficient to deliver accurate decisions more quickly would not be in business long.
He commented: “There will be new breeds and new businesses evolving post-credit crunch. Many packagers have moved past being just packagers now and straight packaging has been dead for a while.”
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Balfour said the majority of business would need to keep pace and in the future would have to be technology driven.
Phil Jay, managing director of BDS Mortgage Group, warned packagers could not expect to survive on their IT offerings alone.
He added: “I think it is more important for packagers to diversify. If packaging is not dead now, it will be in a year’s time. The firms that survive will be the ones that can offer more than just processing a mortgage application.”