Spotlight: Mark Finnegan

I joined Halifax at the age of 20 and spent a number of years working my way through various roles within the bank, eventually reaching the position of Relationship Manager at the Premier office in London. It gave me an incredibly thorough understanding of how lenders think, how they assess applications and — just as importantly — how clients feel when they're navigating one of the biggest financial decisions of their lives.

It was actually several brokers I'd worked with whilst I was there who first suggested I should consider making the move to being a broker. When a number of firms started approaching me with offers, I took up one of the offers and there was no looking back. Making that transition was one of the best decisions I've ever made.

Our service record speaks for itself — and we're fortunate that our clients speak up for us too. We currently hold a perfect 5.0 rating on Google from 481 reviews, which is a remarkable achievement in any professional services sector. 477 of those are five star reviews.

What's particularly telling is the themes that come up time and again in those reviews: clear communication, supportive staff, mortgage advice, response speed, first time buyer support. These reflect the culture we've built over twenty years of putting the client experience at the heart of everything we do. Our internal customer satisfaction surveys back this up, with an overall score consistently above 99%.

Client retention is something that we focus on hugely. A large proportion of our business comes from returning clients and personal recommendations. When someone who bought their first home with us comes back a decade later for their remortgage, and then refers their friends and family, that tells you everything. We don't take that loyalty lightly.

The timing of joining Mortgage Intelligence was, to put it mildly, eventful. Our previous network collapsed in the aftermath of the credit crunch — a deeply unsettling experience for any adviser — but MI got us up and running within a matter of days. That responsiveness, at what was an incredibly stressful moment, told me a great deal about the organisation.

Since then, I haven't looked back. The relationship has been genuinely supportive throughout, and it's no small thing to feel that your network actually has your back. Complete Mortgages has gone on to win multiple awards at the Mortgage Intelligence annual conferences over the years, which is a testament to what can be achieved with the right support structure behind you.

The fundamentals don't really change, even when the market does. First and foremost: look after your clients. That sounds obvious, but it requires genuine commitment — being proactive, communicating clearly, and making the process as straightforward as possible for people who are often under significant stress. It's no coincidence that clear communication and supportive staff are among the most frequently mentioned themes in our Google reviews. That’s something the whole team works hard at every single day.

Be honest about your mistakes and use them as fuel for improvement. No adviser gets every case perfectly right every time, but the ones who grow are the ones who reflect and adapt.

Set expectations with new clients from day one. Make it clear that your goal isn't just to get this mortgage over the line — it's to look after their mortgage and protection needs for the entire life of that mortgage. We contact our clients five to six months before their deal expires as a matter of course, to make sure they're always on the best available rate. That proactive approach is something clients genuinely value and it's one of the reasons so many of them stay with us.

And finally — ask for recommendations. It can feel uncomfortable at first, but satisfied clients are almost always happy to refer people they care about to an adviser they trust. That free advertising has been fundamental to building Complete Mortgages into what it is today.

Mortgage Intelligence might not be the biggest network out there, but in my experience that's actually one of their strengths. Size doesn't always equal quality, and in this case it means you get a level of approachability and personal engagement that you simply wouldn't find at some of the larger operations. When you need support, you can actually get it — and from people who know your business.

For anyone joining MI, my advice would be to embrace that relationship. Build your proposition around exceptional service, stay close to your clients, and play the long game. The brokers who thrive over the course of a career are the ones who treat every client as a long-term relationship rather than a single transaction.