Mortgage 1st launches new specialist lending brand

Mortgage brokerage Mortgage 1st have announced the launch of a new specialist lending brand, Specialist 1st.

Specialist 1st will be an appointed representative of Connect for Intermediaries and will have access to its lender panel.

The new brand is designed to advise directly on complex buy-to-let, adverse credit, second charge lending, commercial purchases, development finance and bridging finance and will see the appointment of an experienced specialist adviser as well as a number of Mortgage 1st advisers becoming dual authorised under the new brand.

Specialist 1st will be headed up by Mortgage 1st’s head of partnerships, Paul Lewis.

Jon Stones, managing director of Mortgage 1st, said: “We always planned to establish a specialist arm under Mortgage 1st and after closely following market trends and conditions, this became a very sensible move to make as we enter 2024.

"As a company we are determined to keep moving forward, enhancing our service and overall offering to Mortgage 1st customers whilst providing our advisers the opportunity to enhance their own skillsets. Advisers need a comprehensive suite of lending solutions to keep up with the ever changing market and customer demand and this move will enable us to help far more clients directly.

"Connect have an excellent reputation within this sector, extensive lender panel and have been wonderful to deal with as we begin building Specialist 1st. Their close relationship with Stonebridge also made them the ideal choice for us and we are excited to be working closely with Liz, Kevin and the entire team at Connect.”

Kevin Thomson, sales director at Connect for Intermediaries, added: “We are delighted to be working with Specialist 1st as they embark on their diversification into the specialist mortgage markets. We look forward to supporting the whole team at Specialist 1st and being with them every step of the way so they can achieve their growth ambitions."