This month, we are sitting down with Rob Clifford (pictured), chief executive of Stonebridge.
How did you get into the mortgage industry?
When I stumbled into full-time work 30-plus years ago, I knew nothing about financial services, let alone mortgage intermediation. Like most people my age and from a working-class background, my priority was to start earning as soon as I could.
As an A-level student, I got a part-time job in a firm doing some telephone canvassing. That firm just happened to be a mortgage broking business. I could just as easily have started out collecting trolleys in Sainsbury’s, like many mates did.
So, I got into mortgages by accident and by a stroke of luck. That part-time student job soon became a full-time role, a role that, it turns out, played well to my strengths. I think I’m seen as a people person and this is absolutely a people business.
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What has been your biggest learning over your career?
It was more of a confirmation – people buy from people and that has not changed in my entire career, despite disintermediation, remote fulfilment and huge advancements in technology. Humans want emotional engagement and reassurance, especially when making major life decisions.
So you need to create and really nurture business relationships. Because those relationships can span decades, you need to go into them being completely true to yourself and to your values or you’ll come unstuck further down the line.
Stonebridge’s results showed strong completion figures in its latest results, with a large increase in house purchases, and buy to let (BTL), protection and remortgage also mentioned. What are the areas of focus for Stonebridge in the coming year and why?
Our focus will be on where we know we can continue to deliver the biggest benefits for our members and their customers. Our starting point is: How do we continue to make the adviser’s job easier? And how do we help them provide a market-leading experience to their customers?
There are three key areas where we believe we can continue to make a big impact in answering both those questions.
First, cutting-edge technology has always been central to Stonebridge’s success given we own and develop our own platform, Revolution. Few firms our size can claim to invest over £1m per year on mortgage broker technology as we do. The appointment last year of Mark Bailey as chief technology officer to oversee Revolution puts us in a great position to continue to lead the way in tech. Investment in technology and bright, experienced leaders will continue to be a core focus this year and beyond.
Second, Consumer Duty has been an important catalyst for the industry, but the work doesn’t stop there. Over the last 12 months, we have invested significantly in providing huge amounts of additional training and support and we will continue to do so this year, especially around protection.
Third, while some networks reduced adviser numbers in 2024, ours grew significantly and will continue to do so throughout 2025. We’ll therefore be continuing to invest in the infrastructure that provides best-of-breed support for our growing membership. Scale means we have more capital and more resources than many peers – and to survive and thrive in this highly regulated environment, you need that scale.
Another aspect of the results that was interesting was the growth in firms joining the network. How does Stonebridge set itself apart from its competitors in terms of its proposition/support for firms?
Revolution, our proprietary technology, is regularly singled out for praise by members who value the role it plays in driving their business’ pipeline, enhancing productivity, and supporting them in delivering exceptional service to their customers.
Something of which I am also very proud is the fact that we have consistently attracted exceptionally talented people from within and outside the industry and they have applied their vast amount of experience to honing and enhancing the support we offer member firms across technology, protection, and business development.
Last year alone, we made four key strategic hires in those areas, and we know from member feedback that is hugely important to them. We also launched our Partner Adviser Recruitment Team, who take the hassle and headache away from our existing firms when they’re looking to recruit a new adviser.
We also appointed a protection account manager and are now expanding that team with imminent hires.
The mortgage network landscape has seen a lot of change over the last few years, with regulation changes around the appointed representative (AR) regime, Consumer Duty and select Tenet entities going into administration. What are the biggest challenges looking ahead for networks and how will Stonebridge navigate them?
The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA’s) review of the protection market will be a key industry focus until its conclusion. We welcome this focus, as we share the goal of ensuring clients continue to put appropriate cover in place that truly meets their needs and offer a strong value proposition, predicated on expert and reliable advice.
The review presents an opportunity to strengthen consumer confidence in the protection sector, which could encourage more people to secure the essential cover they need and protect themselves against the unexpected; not least as UK consumers have a serious protection gap.
For the advice community, the ongoing work around having the protection conversation needs to carry on, even before the FCA decides if anything needs to change. We need to continue challenging each other: Does this advice process deliver good outcomes? Is it providing real value? Do clients fully understand their cover or indeed their lack of cover and exposure?
But equally, it’s important that any regulatory changes, if made, strike the right balance between helping consumers make informed decisions without adding unnecessary complexity to the advice process. The FCA study, if not carefully executed, poses a risk of destabilising the advice regime and with the terrible consequence of even fewer consumers getting the protection products they need. I have faith in the regulator’s commitment to consumers and to our advice sector and trust that the outcomes of the study will be positive for all stakeholders.
The FCA recently said it would consider relaxing certain lending rules. Will this shift the dial in the mortgage market or are there other areas that could be changed?
Deregulation is not the silver bullet that many people think it is – and if we treat it as one, the market risks storing up problems for the future.
I urge caution when it comes to what any loosening of the rules surrounding lending will achieve. It could certainly increase demand and access to products, but without the corresponding increase in supply (such as more housebuilding), I worry that such changes could leave first-time buyers worse off long term.
The unintended consequence may be inflating property prices, which undoes any of the potential benefits of watering down lending rules. And as such, I fear it will do little to improve the lot of first-time buyers.
Admittedly, the government wants to overhaul the planning system to boost the supply of new homes. However, previous administrations have tried and failed to reform planning. Until we see progress on this front, my default position is scepticism and concern, especially as there are other barriers standing in the way of development, such as a shortage of construction workers and raw materials.
We are a long way off from supply catching up with demand.
What are the biggest opportunities and challenges for brokers in 2025?
The past two years haven’t been a walk in the park, but the industry has come through stronger. This feels like a different market, one full of opportunities for advisers who want to grasp them.
For starters, brokers should be busier this year. UK Finance forecasts a 7% jump in gross mortgage lending to over £260bn this year, plus another £250bn in product transfers. On top of that, two – possibly three – base rate cuts in 2025 should lead to lower monthly repayments for borrowers and act as a tailwind for the sector.
More transactions mean more opportunity for brokers to have vital protection conversations. It’s often said protection must be advised upon, not bought – but the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries’ (AMI’s) latest Protection Viewpoint proves clients do want these discussions. That’s a win-win, as it increases the chances that clients walk away with the cover they need; better consumer outcomes and a reflection of the brilliant work done by advisers, day in, day out.
Of course, challenges remain. Lenders will keep pushing for direct business, whether through dual pricing, slicker product transfer processes, or investments in D2C tech. That’s not changing – so brokers must continue proving their worth both to clients and lenders.
Meanwhile, last-minute rate withdrawals continue to create chaos for advisers and clients alike. This needs to change and I’d welcome the chance to sit down with any lender to discuss how they can improve in this area.
What would you want brokers and others in the mortgage sector to know about Stonebridge?
Five years of record growth, sector-leading results and yet no let-up in our ambition. We are seriously investing in our controlled growth. Our proposition is straightforward, transparent and fair to brokers, which is a boon to anyone starting their own business.
We are extremely well-capitalised, commercially more attractive than other networks, we provide exceptional support, and a market-leading software platform – it’s not for nothing that more firms joined Stonebridge in 2024 than any other mortgage and protection network for the third year in a row.
