Award
The British Later Life Lending Awards 2026
The British Later Life Lending Awards recognise the outstanding achievements of the individuals who are shaping and elevating the later life lending market. We celebrate the advisers, lenders, business leaders and innovators who go above and beyond to raise standards, inspire progress, and deliver meaningful impact.
At the heart of these awards is a commitment to transparency and fairness. The nominations process is open and robust, ensuring that excellence is recognised on merit alone. From independent judging panels to clear criteria, every step is designed to shine a spotlight on those whose work makes a genuine difference.
Our winners will be those who innovate, collaborate and lead with integrity. They not only improve their own businesses but also strengthen the later life lending market as a whole creating positive change for clients, colleagues and the wider industry.
Hilton London Bankside
Best Later Life Adviser – five or fewer advisers
We are looking for you to recognise firms rather than individuals. Your nomination should be based on a combination of the company’s commitment to the best possible outcome for its customers across the whole later advice spectrum, business performance and the consistent quality of its advice. The company will have demonstrated an exhaustive knowledge of the whole later life lending product range and the concerns and needs of its client base. This holistic Later Life advice can be demonstrated by all advisers or by a referral internally to a Later life expert(s) or a referral externally to a partner(s) which ensures a holistic advice framework is adhered to. The number of advisers should be the number from 1st January 2024.
A commitment to diversity and inclusion for staff and/or customers should be demonstrated.
Best Later Life Adviser – six to 19 advisers
Your nomination should be based on a combination of the company’s commitment to the best possible outcome for its customers across the whole later life advice spectrum, business performance and the consistent quality of its advice. The company will have demonstrated an exhaustive knowledge of the whole later life lending product range and the concerns and needs of its client base. This holistic Later Life advice can be demonstrated by all advisers or by a referral internally to a Later life expert(s) or a referral externally to a partner(s) which ensures a holistic advice framework is adhered to. The number of advisers should be the number from 1st January 2024.
A commitment to diversity and inclusion for staff and/or customers should be demonstrated.
Best Later Life Adviser – 20+ advisers supported by Adlington Law
Your nomination should be based on a combination of the company’s commitment to the best possible outcome for its customers across the whole later life advice spectrum, business performance and the consistent quality of its advice. The company will have demonstrated an exhaustive knowledge of the whole later life lending product range and the concerns and needs of its client base. This holistic Later Life advice can be demonstrated by all advisers or by a referral internally to a Later life expert(s) or a referral externally to a partner(s) which ensures a holistic advice framework is adhered to. The number of advisers should be the number from 1st January 2024.
A commitment to diversity and inclusion for staff and/or customers should be demonstrated.
Best Individual Later Life Adviser
This category recognises an exceptional individual adviser for their achievements over the last 12 months. The individual can be a representative from any size of firm, including a sole trader.
Your nomination should be based on a combination of the individual’s commitment to the best possible outcome for their customers across the whole later life advice spectrum, business performance and the consistent quality of their advice. The individual will have demonstrated an exhaustive knowledge of the whole later life lending product range and the concerns and needs of its client base.
Best Distributor for Adviser Support (firm or individual)
This category recognises the distributor firm or individual (To include, but not limited to, adviser firms, networks and clubs, conveyancers, surveyors, as well as other support services firms and consultancies in the distribution chain) that have demonstrated new thinking in advice firm support.
This includes, but is not limited to:
Training courses and events;
Compliance services;
Customer contact strategies;
Adviser business development;
Technology innovation
The successful firm will have made a proven positive impact on its own business in the last 12 months, while delivering services that positively enhance the work of its distribution partners.
Best Business Development Manager (an individual from any firm – either telephony or face-to-face)
This category is open to individuals from all firms – provider, distributor or support services companies. The award will be given to the individual responsible for business development in a face-to-face or telephony capacity. This individual will always go the extra mile for their customers. Someone who is always available, knows their business inside out and offers support and guidance to the distribution channels they serve. They will take ownership of the relationships, ensuring that they consistently achieve positive results for the intermediary and their business.
Best Underwriter
This award category is open to anyone in this discipline at all levels – director, executive or manager. The nominee will have delivered strong initiatives in the last year to improve the quality of business, overall performance and/or controls within the provider which demonstrates that this individual is exceptional. This candidate demonstrates initiatives which have made a clear, visible impact on the business.
Best Legal Firm
Nominees will provide expert, efficient and practical advice at each step of the process. Successful candidates will have risk and compliance at the heart of their propositions and demonstrate an innovative approach to challenges, while pushing for a consistently faultless service to clients.
Best Surveyor
Nominees will have demonstrated the delivery of a consistently high-quality offering, accurate reports as well as a quick and efficient service. Candidates will evidence digital enhancements to service and a willingness to engage with or lead industry development.
Best Network supported by Equity Release Council
This category recognises outstanding performance and service by a network that supports advisers operating in the later life lending market. A winning network will demonstrate exceptional commitment to empowering its members through high-quality compliance support, training, technology, range & competitiveness of later life lender and product offering and business development tools tailored to the needs of later life customers. Entrants should clearly show how they have enhanced adviser capability and customer outcomes across equity release, retirement interest-only mortgages, and broader later life financial solutions.
This award celebrates the network that is not only a commercial enabler but also a trusted partner, raising the bar for professionalism and quality within the later life lending space.
Best Lifetime Mortgage Provider (for product, proposition and service) supported by Phoebus Software
For this category, please make your assessment in terms of the combination of products, proposition and service levels provided in the last 12 months. We are looking for a firm which ensures the best customer outcome via the intermediary and consistently meets the needs of distribution partners with both the right blend of product(s) and a consistently high level of service. A commitment to diversity and inclusion for staff, distribution partners and/or customers should be demonstrated.
Best RIO or Retirement Mortgage Provider (for product, proposition and service)
For this category, please make your assessment in terms of the combination of products, proposition and service levels provided in the last 12 months. This category covers either Retirement Interest Only Mortgages or standard Capital repayment mortgages for the over 50s. (including Term Interest only mortgages). We are looking for a firm which ensures the best customer outcome via the intermediary and consistently meets the needs of distribution partners with both the right blend of product(s) and a consistently high level of service. A commitment to diversity and inclusion for staff, distribution partners and/or customers should be demonstrated.
Best Provider for Adviser Support, Training and Development
The category deliberates over the highest examples of adviser support from a product provider. This includes, but is not limited to, training and development, compliance services, customer contact strategies and adviser business development. This also includes technology innovation that drives broker efficiency and the delivery of a first-class customer experience. The successful firm will have made a proven positive impact on its own business in the last 12 months, while delivering services that positively enhance the business of their distribution partners. A commitment to diversity and inclusion for staff, distribution partners and/or customers should be demonstrated.
Adlington Law
Website
Adlington Law is a multi-award-winning law firm specialising in later life legal services, delivered with a client-centred and compassionate approach.
Renowned for its personalised service, the firm tailors legal strategies to meet the distinct needs of each individual, ensuring clarity, care and confidence throughout the process.
As a family-run practice, Adlington Law fosters a culture of integrity and dedication.
Every member of the team is committed to achieving the best possible outcomes by combining deep legal expertise with practical, solution-focused advice.
The firm’s experienced professionals are proactive and collaborative, consistently striving for resolutions that serve all parties. Their emphasis on technical excellence and thoughtful communication sets them apart in a competitive legal landscape.
Adlington Law distinguishes itself through its unwavering commitment to delivering outstanding, client-focused legal services that support and empower individuals in later life.
Equity Release Council
Website
The Equity Release Council is a diverse and unified trade body, serving as a focal point for industry success by setting high standards, promoting consumer safeguards, and influencing policy and debate on the use of property wealth in later life and retirement planning. It holds a firm belief that to support its member’s interests, rigorous industry standards and robust consumer protections are vital.
It is committed to fostering a vibrant, responsible, and trusted later-life market, grounded in good consumer outcomes, product innovation, and industry best practices. The Council is customer-centric, ethical, and respectful at all times and in all it does.
Later Life Retirement Planning
Website
Personal. Ethical. Award-Winning.
Later Life Retirement Planning is an award-winning firm with over 90 years of combined adviser experience in financial services. Recognised for excellence, the business has built a trusted reputation for personalised, ethical advice and a truly client-centred approach.
Accessible beyond typical business hours, LLRP offers flexible support by phone, video or in person. The team takes time to truly understand each individual’s needs and goals, ensuring every recommendation is transparent, compassionate and firmly rooted in the client’s best interests.
Above all, LLRP believes in making later life planning a positive and empowering experience, where clients feel listened to, understood and fully supported every step of the way.
Phoebus
Website
Building societies, banks, specialist lenders and third-party servicers use Phoebus to service over £120 billion of mortgage and savings assets in the UK and Ireland.
For over 30 years, Phoebus has been trusted to deliver automated servicing solutions to over 25 clients in the UK and Ireland. Its approach is to create a true working partnership with clients which drives measurable results and ROI.
The ability to service many different product types on the Phoebus servicing solution is recognised as a key strength. Multi-tenancy capability allows different brands to be serviced in accordance with different SLAs.
Phoebus manages even the most complex servicing needs and is widely recognised as the market’s most robust and accurate servicing platform. The Phoebus API ecosystem integrates customers to their accounts via mobile and web application and also integrates Phoebus with any internal or external applications required as part of an implementation.
If you’re seeking to digitise your operations and customer experience whilst driving impressive efficiencies through automation, Phoebus should be your partner of choice.
Adviser categories
Best Later Life Adviser – five or fewer advisers
Asquith Financial Services
Emerald Finance
Money Release
Best Later Life Adviser – six to 19 advisers
Access Equity Release
Later Life Retirement Planning
Viva Retirement Solutions
Best Later Life Adviser – 20+ advisers sponsored by Adlington Law
Bower Home Finance
Equity Release Supermarket
Mortgage Advice Bureau
Best Individual Later Life Adviser
Stuart Borthwick, Dartmoor Financial
Steve Dale, MB Associates
Mike Hardy, The Equity Release Experts
Best Distributor for Adviser Support (firm or individual)
Advice Guru
Air
Premier Equity Release Club
Other Categories
Best Network sponsored by Equity Release Council
Connect for Intermediaries
HLPartnership
Right Mortgage Network
Best Surveyor
Countrywide Surveying Services
e.surv
Gateway Surveyors
Best Legal Firm
Adlington Law
Equilaw
Gilroy Steel Solicitors
Best Business Development Manager
Gemma Brown, Pure Retirement
Kieran Mullen, Canada Life
Andrew Sadler, Suffolk Building Society
Best Underwriter
Matthew Evans, LiveMore Mortgages
Gavin Hancock, Pure Retirement
Paul O’Hara, Canada Life
Provider Categories
Best Provider for Adviser Support, Training and Development
Canada Life
more2life
Pure Retirement
Best RIO or Retirement Mortgage Provider (for product, proposition and service) sponsored by Later Life Retirement Planning
Hodge
Leeds Building Society
LiveMore Mortgages
Best Lifetime Mortgage Provider (for product, proposition and service) sponsored by Phoebus Software
Canada Life
more2life
Pure Retirement
Director, Acclaimed Mortgage Consultancy
Managing director, Barton Law
Head of distribution, Pure Retirement
Chairman, Equity Release Council
Managing director & laterliving planner, Laterliving now!
Chief compliance officer and consumer duty champion, Equity Release Supermarket
Equity release specialist lead, Royal London
Sales and distribution director, Canada Life
Partner- head of later life finance, Knight Frank Finance
David is regarded as an expert in the Later Life Lending market. He has focused on this area since 2005. His knowledge and experience is well rounded, having spent 6 years from 2009 with the Financial Conduct Authority as a subject matter expert, followed by 2 years as Head of Compliance for Retirement Advantage (Now Canada Life Home Finance). David has also spent many years supporting the Equity Release Council, including 2 years as a member of their Standards Board. He now sits on their Risk Committee and one of their Expert Working Groups. David joined Knight Frank Finance in the spring of 2019 to form the Later Life Finance team, bringing his expertise and advice to older High Net Worth homeowners. David is passionate about his chosen market, regularly speaking at industry events, writing articles and providing comment and insight to the press.
CEO, Key Group
Director and co-founder, Lifetime Equity Release
Later life lending director, LDN Finance
Group chief commercial officer, Advise Wise, Age Partnership & Pure Retirement
MB Associates
Director, Viva Retirement Solutions
Paul has worked in the Financial Advice industry for 27 years, and started his career with Aviva, where he become a top adviser, before managing top performing teams in the direct and corporate offerings that Aviva had. This gave Paul grounding to branch out into the whole of market advice world.
Paul set up Viva Retirement Solutions along with fellow Director Mark Lambert in 2013. Viva has grown from 2 to 19 advisers in that time and has built a strong reputation for giving best advice and service, whilst also influencing change to continually improve industry standards.
One example of this is being the originator of the newest Equity Release Council Standard – making it mandatory for all lenders to allow clients to make voluntary repayments on their plans. Viva Retirement have been recognised numerous times within its own industry, as well as being recognised as best in market from the wider industry too. Paul strives to raise the bar in whatever he does.
Partnership development manager, equity release, LV=
Managing director, Emerald Finance
Business development director, Equilaw
Matt is our Business Development Director and has worked at Equilaw since 2016. Prior to joining Equilaw, Matt has worked within the regulated financial services sector for most of his career.
Matt heads up the Business Development team, and is responsible for developing the Equilaw brand across the Equity Release market.
Having exclusively worked within a sales environment, Matt understands the complex requirements that advisers and clients may face and enjoys finding solutions to unique problems.
Managing director - equity release advice, Responsible Life
Head of retirement distribution, Aviva
Kay Westgarth is a senior leader in financial services with over 30 years’ experience. She began her later life lending journey with Key Group in 2018, following leadership roles at Lloyds Banking Group, Prudential and Towergate Group.
In 2021, Kay led the launch of Standard Life Home Finance into the intermediary market, driving rapid growth. She returned to Key Group in 2023 as Group Manufacturing Sales Director, overseeing both Standard Life Home Finance and More2Life.
In July 2024, Kay joined Aviva as Head of Retirement Distribution, responsible for intermediary distribution of annuities and equity release. Known for building high-performing teams, she is also a skilled communicator and public speaker, frequently presenting on topics such as diversity and inclusion, where she continues to be a passionate advocate for positive change in the industry.
The core principle behind the British Later Life Lending Awards scheme is the transparency and robustness of the nominations process.
As such, we have two processes. One for the Provider categories and one for the Non-Provider categories.
Process for the provider categories
There is a three-stage process for the following categories:
Best Lifetime Mortgage Provider (for product, proposition and service)
Best RIO or Retirement Mortgage Provider (for product, proposition and service)
Best Provider for Adviser Support, Training and Development
All provider categories will be nominated for by a panel of over 50 adviser firms. We will be asking them to submit their top five provider firms in each provider category. (We will not be accepting any self-nominations for the provider categories and employees of providers will not be allowed to nominate their own business in any of the provider categories).
Once the first phase of the process is closed, a shortlist of 3 is drawn up in each category based on the number of nominations for a particular firm. Those nominees that make the shortlist of 3 in each category are then asked to submit a supporting testimonial which will be scrutinised by our judging panel.
A respected judging panel is used for the final stage of the process. The judges are handpicked for their experience and knowledge of the market and are a representative sample of providers, distributors and supporting services who can give a reasoned and balanced view on each of the candidates on the shortlists.
A representative from each of the shortlisted firms will attend a 15-minute interview in which the judges will use the testimonial and their market knowledge to assess who should win the award. We conduct the judging remotely, with interviews taking place over Zoom.
Process for the non-provider categories
There is a three-stage process for the following categories:
Best Later Life Adviser – five and fewer advisers
Best Later Life Adviser – six to 19 advisers
Best Later Life Adviser – 20+ advisers
Best Individual Later Life Adviser
Best Distributor for Adviser Support (firm or individual)
Best Business Development Manager
Best Underwriter
Best Legal Firm
Best Surveyor
Best Network
Best Newcomer
As with provider categories, once the first phase of the process is closed a shortlist is drawn up in each category based on the number and spread of nominations for a particular firm or individual. Please note, employee nominations will be capped at 5. Those nominees that make the shortlist of 3 in each category are then asked to submit a supporting testimonial which will be scrutinised by our judging panel.
To complete the process, each finalist will attend a 15-minute interview in which the judges will use the testimonial and their market knowledge to assess who should win the award. We conduct the judging remotely, with interviews taking place over Zoom.
Nominations are due to open on Wednesday 24th September. Deadline for nominations is 5pm on Friday 31st October.
An online judging day will take place on Thursday 27th November 2025.
| 19:40 | Welcome Danielle Moore, operations director, Mortgage Solutions |
| 19:45 | Opening Address Speaker to be announced |
| 19:50 | Dinner is served |
| 21:30 | Entertainment To be announced |
| 21:50 | Awards Ceremony Hosted By Danielle Moore, operations director, Mortgage Solutions |
| 22:15 | Post-Awards Party |
| 01:00 | Carriages |
Adviser Categories
Best Later Life Adviser – five and fewer advisers sponsored by Aviva
Later Life Retirement Planning
Best Later Life Adviser – six to 19 advisers sponsored by Just
Equity Release Associates
Best Later Life Adviser – 20+ advisers sponsored by Royal London
Equity Release Supermarket
Best Individual Later Life Adviser sponsored by Pure Retirement
Andrew Teeman Mortgage Advice Bureau
Best Distributor for Adviser Support (firm or individual)
Advise Wise
Other Categories
Best Business Development Manager
John Macdonald, Aviva
Best Underwriter
Matthew Evans, LiveMore Mortgages
Best Legal Firm
Equilaw
Best Surveyor
Countrywide Surveying Services
Best Newcomer sponsored by Equity Release Council
Megan Williams, Royal London Equity Release
Provider Categories
Best Lifetime Mortgage Provider (for product, proposition and service) sponsored by Phoebus
more2life
Best RIO or Retirement Mortgage Provider (for product, proposition and service) sponsored by Mortgage Advice Bureau
LiveMore Mortgages
Best Provider for Adviser Support, Training and Development sponsored by Later Life Retirement Planning
Aviva
Please note that we are asking you to create an account or sign into Mortgage Solutions in order to submit a nomination.
This is so that we can verify you as a mortgage professional (These awards are voted for by mortgage professionals only. Any nominations received from members of the public, including customers, will not be counted).
Setting up an account takes 2 minutes
On submission of your nomination, you are giving AE3 Media permission to use your data to send you relevant details about The British Later Life Lending Awards.
Should you have an issue with how AE3 Media is processing your personal data, please email david.adjei@ae3media.co.uk.