In fact it time appears to be speeding up as our launch date gets closer with everyone working flat out to make sure Fleet Mortgages not only has good products but a good service proposition.
As we test the mortgage system we understand more and more about what a great piece of kit we’ve acquired. There’s still a lot of work to do on it with our underwriters performing tests to try and trip it over but the feedback from them about the ‘usability’ and intuitive nature of the system is great to hear.
In the background we’ve been working on some ‘state of art’ fraud protection systems which is good news for us and our introducers. One thing we’ve learnt over the years is that fraud is something that affects intermediaries and lenders alike and by investing heavily we can afford maximum protection for ourselves, intermediaries and our funding partners.
Having said that, as a forensic auditor specialising in fraud for one of the big four accountancy firms once mused, there will always be a new fraud no one has thought of. True as this is we nonetheless believe that investment in this arena is money well spent (and believe me this stuff does not come cheap).
We’ve attracted some more talented underwriters to Fleet Mortgages who will be joining us over the next few weeks ready for our launch. I have to say that I’ve been surprised and pleased with the way our recruitment has gone. In any new venture there are many ‘icebergs’ waiting to sink your ship but chief amongst these has to be not getting the people you need in place when you need them. At the outset this was high on our ‘business risks’ but as time has gone by we’ve had many talented people from the mortgage industry seeking to join us – if only we had room for them all.
So what about the interweb – tweets, LinkedIn and such things. I’m told we can’t run a business in the 21st Century without ‘social media at the heart of what we do’ – can you see the plug from a dedicated agency? – so we’ve moved ahead in that department.
Much to my surprise we do have a Twitter account (@FleetMortgages), LinkedIn Page (search ‘Fleet Mortgages’) and Facebook page (ditto). Feel free to follow us on Twitter and join us on LinkedIn and Facebook (my marketing guys tell me that it’s well worth the minute or so of your time it takes to do this. And who am I to argue?
That’s all this week – I have an ‘exciting’ compliance meeting to go to followed by my Money Laundering training – hurrah.
Bob Young is chief executive officer of Fleet Mortgages
