This month we are sitting down with Jonathan Bone, mortgage team manager at Better.co.uk.

He has worked at the firm, which was previously known as Trussle for around six years, initally joining as a mortgage adviser.

Prior to that, Bone was a mortgage adviser at Ablestoke Financial Planning for around year and previously worked at Nationwide for nearly six years.

How did you get into the mortgage industry?

Like most people, I didn’t grow up with a huge desire to get into the mortgage industry but after travelling the world and broadening my horizons I decided to close them again by getting a sensible job at a bank. That bank turned out to be a building society and I spent several years working for Nationwide, an organisation I still have a huge soft spot for.

While there I saw first-hand how important it was that people had someone to speak to about their largest financial commitment and the impact those conversations could have. I took a few weeks of annual leave and completed my CeMAP qualifications and haven’t looked back. Giving great advice, saving people money and getting deals across the line has been something I’ve loved doing even if I never thought I’d end up here.

Sponsored

Introducing the Green Living Reward

Your clients can now get up to £2,000 cashback for making energy-efficient home

Sponsored by Halifax Intermediaries

 

Better.co.uk, then known as Trussle, launched in 2015, what have the biggest changes in the mortgage market been in that time and have they been for the better?

The industry doesn’t change quickly and when you’re dealing with something that is so important to so many people across the country maybe that’s a good thing. The two huge shifts that I’ve noticed are that the public is much more willing to trust an online broker and are significantly more informed than they were in 2015. Both are positive and both came from actions outside of the industry, firstly the pandemic and the lockdowns forced the industry to digitise which forced customers to trust a broker they had never seen in the flesh.

Secondly, the Truss mini-Budget which sent interest rates rocketing created a new wave of people who were interested in why rates were going up. Almost nobody would ask their mortgage adviser about swap rates in 2015 but now it’s a common discussion.

 

Better.co.uk launched with other firms like Habito as digital brokers that wanted to disrupt the mortgage industry. How does Better.co.uk fit into the broker space now and is that disruptive ethos still a mainstay of the business?

While the term “disruptive” is used by pretty much every start-up across the world and it’s the kind of language that gets investors excited I would rather focus on why we wanted to disrupt. We wanted to build a company that made things easier for consumers, provided first-class service, took a digital-first approach and did everything to get the best result for customers. It’s something we have never strayed from and hopefully never will. The spirit of believing the industry should be better for customers is still thriving within Better.co.uk

In regard to where we fit in I like to think that we, and the other online brokers, have created a space for ourselves in the industry and I see the slice of that pie getting bigger. More and more people are comfortable dealing with their mortgage online so I can only see growth in the online space. While I think online will chip away at the more traditional way of doing things I do not doubt that face-to-face brokers will continue for many years to come. It’s a big and fragmented industry that can cater to customers however they want to transact with a broker and long may that choice continue.

 

Better.co.uk became directly authorised (DA) in 2020, having been an appointed representative (AR) of MAB for around five years, what have the key differences been between the two and what encouraged the change?

MAB were a great partner for those years but we had grown to the point where we wanted to put in motion some of our long-term plans such as using our own software, expanding our protection panel and partnering with lenders to provide same-day mortgage offers.

Having the flexibility to make decisions quickly and in-house meant the decision to go DA was the correct one. Now, as we move towards working ever closer with big partners and launching a lender having that freedom has been invaluable.

 

On the AR vs DA side, do you think more people will make the move to become DA or vice versa?

If you’re looking to do something a bit different then yes it can be the right decision to become DA but if you have a traditional brokerage that benefits from compliance support and using the software provided by a larger firm then I think the cost of outsourcing those problems is worth paying.

The business was acquired in 2021 and said it had plans to scale up and become the largest mortgage broker in the UK by 2022? How are those plans progressing and what areas of opportunity are you seeing?

It’s not a target we’re setting ourselves right now, but we still believe that if we keep providing fantastic service to our customers and we make the mortgage journey as easy as possible for them there is room to keep growing and one day become the largest broker in the UK. We want to achieve that organically rather than by just hiring the most advisers, that means we need to keep securing partners, provide outstanding service and ensure we retain our customers.

While we do grow we have identified more solutions for our customers and that’s meant we’ve created a new secured loan team, increased our protection panel and have offered an all-in-one conveyancing product.

 

What is the current headcount for the business and what are recruitment plans? Are there any areas that you are looking to grow?

We have a fantastic team of 17 mortgage advisers, seven protection advisers and five secured loan advisers. While we may need to recruit in the future as we work with more partners we will always look to drive efficiencies across our sales and administrative teams. As we embrace the use of technology within our sales funnel and reduce the man-hours spent getting an application from an initial conversation to completion we free up our people to do what they do best and that is speak to customers and provide the best advice possible.

 

What is the firm’s strategy around distribution?

We’re a digital-first mortgage broker. This means our website and app are the two entry points people have to our brand and business. We attract customers primarily through brand and digital marketing. From there, our advisers take over and deliver a personalised approach to each customer.

 

In the near term and long term, where do you see the biggest opportunities and challenges?

Our biggest opportunity and something I’m so excited about is our partnership with Monzo. They’ve been brilliant to work with, it’s great to deal with a company that shares so many of our values, and some of their ideas on how to help people onto the property ladder are going to be real game changers for the industry.

My biggest challenge as we succeed and grow is maintaining our superb service levels. We are very proud of our Trustpilot score as it’s the result of so much hard work across the whole team and as we push forward we must keep its importance at the heart of everything we do.

 

What would you want people to know about Better.co.uk?

There is a misconception that online brokerages don’t offer good advice, they only deal with “vanilla” cases and even that the people who give the advice aren’t qualified. Yes, we’re an online broker and yes, we are fee-free but the advice you receive comes from real people who have been advising across the industry for years and they all really care about the outcome for the customer.

We have also launched a secondary homeowner loan service for those seeking additional borrowing requirements (something we are seeing more of in terms of people staying put and renovating instead of moving up the property ladder like they traditionally would).

In my career I’ve worked as an adviser at a lender, within an IFA and within Better.co.uk I can say that the level of service we provide and the ease with which people can use us is head and shoulders above anything I’ve experienced before. Come and give us a try!