Andy Pelley formed bridging specialist firm The Loan Partnership this month with John Webb, a former secured loan broker. The decision to launch was prompted in part by indications of a mortgage market recovery.
Pelley, who left the mortgage industry in 2008 to direct a football club,told Mortgage Solutions the industry had changed considerably: “There is a real need to learn how things have changed and embrace that and work with it. We have learnt the processes and lenders’ criteria and compliance so that when we do recruit we can teach staff from experience.”
He welcomed the stricter demands on self-employed borrowers, he said: “When people are genuinely earning the money, lenders lend.”
The industry’s willingness to work with regulators and with each other was another positive step since the days of the credit crisis, he added.
Pelley worked as a director at Loans.co.uk, overseeing the firm’s sale to MBNA in 2005 before leaving the industry in 2008. He then became director of the Wycombe Wanderers and London Wasps.
With Webb, a former secured loans broker, he set up The Loans Partnership as a broker firm for both brokers and consumers.
Dealing with agents and negotiations during his time at the football club had allowed him to build up a complimentary skillset to that from his time in the mortgage world, Pelley said.
However, he insisted he did not miss the football: “This is where I want to be.”
