Mortgage News
Mortgage adviser First Mortgage targets Manchester branch in bid for £1bn lending
Scotland-based independent mortgage provider First Mortgage is to expand into England, with a first branch planned for Manchester.
The move comes after significant growth in Scotland, which saw the company provide an estimated 7,100 clients with mortgages worth a total of £999m in the last financial year.
Director Ian McGrail is confident that figure will exceed £1bn for the first time this year.
“We already have a presence through a franchise operation in Newcastle which has proved highly successful and has seen the operator there double its mortgage market penetration in just four years”, said McGrail.
“We also secure business down south through a network of call centres. But this will be our first branch presence and we are keen to retain full control of the business as we expand.”
The company has selected a number of other English cities to target, should the Manchester branch prove successful.
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The mortgage, remortgage and mortgage protection specialist was established in the 1990s and now has more than 100 staff, including 55 specialist advisers, servicing a network of 10 Scottish branches, including four in Edinburgh, a 5000 sq ft base in Glasgow, two branches in Aberdeen and a presence in Dundee, Kirkcaldy and Falkirk.