In the Spotlight with Rob Barnard, Pepper Money

FR: Why did you decide to return to Pepper Money?

It just felt right for me at this stage of my career. It’s almost four years since I last worked at Pepper and feel I still have some unfinished busines. It’s been great to see what’s happened at the lender during that period. Pepper are still doing a lot of the fantastic things they were when I was previously here, and they have added a lot of great new things as well. Having dedicated propositions for second charge mortgages and affordable home ownership schemes are just two examples of these, and the current service proposition is really outstanding.

FR: Tell us a little about your new role.

I’m here to work with the rest of the team, helping to raise our profile with key distributors, including specialist distributors, and broker firms. As part of this, I’ll be working with brokers on identifying new areas of the specialist market that are currently underserved and investigating how Pepper Money can help provide a solution for these.

FR: What’s the secret to excellent service?

It’s all about education and conversation. We have streamlined our processes and requirements as much as possible and made it clear to brokers what information we need to progress a deal. At the same time, we have continued to engage with brokers to understand what we are doing well and where there remains room for improvement. It’s a two-way street when it comes to learning. We haven’t forgotten that, and it has helped us to continually improve our proposition.

FR: Do you think that Pepper offering both first and second charge mortgages will help more brokers to consider seconds as an option for their clients?

Undoubtedly. A second charge mortgage can offer a very viable option for customers, especially those who may have specialist requirements, or might on a very skinny tracker rate from a high street lender and don’t want to lose it. If used correctly, second charge lending can provide a very good solutions-based approach to lending for a range of customer circumstances.

FR: What are the big opportunities this year?

I think we will see further growth of the specialist mortgage market as the cost of living challenges impact customers. For some, it may put strain on their finances where they take measures to ensure they are maintaining their big financial commitments but might have blips elsewhere. For others, it could encourage them to take on additional income sources through an extra job or taking on more overtime. These factors will all add complexity to their circumstances that would be well catered for by a specialist lender.

There is also likely to be an increase in the number of customers who choose to take control over their unsecured credit, by consolidating their debt with a second charge mortgage or remortgage. This won’t be the right approach for everyone, but in the right circumstances, debt consolidation can help people to manage their finances through this challenging period.

FR: What are the challenges for brokers this year?

Keeping up with constant rate changes. We know that this is frustrating for brokers and it’s an unfortunate characteristic of the market at the moment as a rate change doesn’t just impact rate but can also change affordability. At Pepper Money, we know that the way we communicate with brokers has a direct impact on the service they are able to provide their clients and we always do our best to provide good timeframes in advance of any product changes.

FR: If you could read one headline about the mortgage market in 2022, what would it be?

Rob Barnard returns to Pepper Money!