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From rising employee expectations to growing salary demands, the UK mortgage industry is grappling with intensifying challenges. A shallow pool of experienced professionals, rising pay benchmarks and generational differences in workplace values are colliding with legacy business models that haven’t kept pace.
Employers are facing growing difficulty recruiting skilled advisers, especially those who can contribute immediately, while trying to retain existing staff amid unkept promotion promises, outdated systems and internal salary imbalances.
Flexibility, meaningful work and trust in leadership are what people expect from the start. As the workforce grows more selective, the old ways of hiring and managing talent no longer hold.
But the best mortgage companies to work for in the UK show that culture, investment in people and reputation reign supreme when it comes to retaining high performers. Firms that prioritise flexibility, career development and ethical leadership are keeping their edge. The UK’s top employers are boosting their culture continuously through improved systems, proactive communication and clearer progression pathways.
Whether at a brokerage, lender or network, employees placed the highest value on culture, reputation, benefits and compensation, four traits that consistently set Mortgage Introducer’s Top Mortgage Employers for 2025 apart.
That alignment between what firms offer and what employees experience reflects a workforce increasingly drawn to:
purposeful leadership
supportive, values-based cultures
modern benefits that evolve with employee needs
As MI’s survey data shows, culture remains the standout driver of retention, with reputation and benefits rising in importance year over year. Compensation still matters, but for many, trust and follow-through count just as much.
“Culture makes or breaks everything,” says Duncan McIlroy, head of the financial services division at Eventus Recruitment Group. “I’ve seen profitable firms collapse because toxic environments drove away talent faster than they could replace them.”
He also notes that technology matters more than most employers realise. “I’ve had candidates turn down jobs because the CRM system looked like it was from 2005. Your people want to focus on clients, not fight with outdated software.”
Stellar Select director, Rosa Hilmi, who has worked in the industry for nearly three decades, adds that reputation often tips the balance, particularly in a tight-knit industry such as the UK’s mortgage sector.
“A lot of people know each other. The other day, I spoke to a hiring manager I had placed at the start of his career. Word of mouth about a business is key,” she says. “Having a good reputation is important because every time someone is unhappy, half of the people they know will hear about it.”
A changing market, rising digital adoption and deepening talent scarcity are reshaping what it takes to attract and retain skilled professionals in the sector. Flexibility is now standard. Culture has become measurable. And the promise of progression needs to be more than lip service.
While demand for home loans still dominates the broker channel, new growth is coming from digital adoption and commercial lending. Face-to-face advice continues to hold a majority share (66.91%), but online distribution is gaining ground, projected to grow at a compound annual rate of 10.22% through 2030. Large brokerages currently hold nearly 40% of market share, while smaller firms are expanding at a pace, with a projected CAGR of 7.86% through 2030.
Talent gaps are making it harder to sustain that growth. According to ManpowerGroup’s Q3 2025 outlook, 79% of financial services employers in the UK report difficulty finding skilled talent. Demand for AI literacy, digital fluency, and leadership aligned with employee values has widened the gap.
That scarcity is playing out in employee sentiment. According to Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace 2025, just 10% of UK employees are engaged at work, among the lowest rates in Europe. The UK also reported one of the highest levels of daily stress globally, with 46% of workers experiencing stress “a lot of the day yesterday.”
The gap between what employers promise and what staff experience is starting to cost. Culture is no longer a soft metric; it’s a deciding factor for high performers weighing where to stay and when to leave.
Pay still matters, but so do clear development paths, honest leadership and day-to-day support. With more than two-thirds of the UK workforce in a state of disengagement, the warning signs are hard to ignore.
In the mortgage sector, these dynamics are especially acute. Outstanding residential mortgage balances have reached roughly £1.67 trillion, according to the Bank of England, marking the highest point since early 2023. The Financial Conduct Authority reports £65.5 billion in gross mortgage advances for Q3 2024, up nearly 6.7% year on year.
Brokers continue to drive the market, accounting for about 80% of originations. But many of those firms rely on small adviser teams where headcount matters. In a market already short on skilled talent, keeping experienced staff has become a business imperative.
Pay expectations are also climbing. In finance and business services, the average regular earnings rose 5.1% in the year to April 2025, the fastest wage growth across all private sector industries, according to the Office for National Statistics.
MI’s 2025 Top Mortgage Employers were rated by their workforce across eight core areas:
advancement
benefits
compensation
culture
diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I)
innovation
reputation
sustainable programs
Nominees submitted detailed information about their policies and practices, followed by anonymous employee surveys. Minimum thresholds were enforced to ensure robust participation based on organisation size. Final scores determined gold, silver and bronze awards in three categories: brokerages, lenders and networks.
Employees at top-ranked firms consistently described workplaces that back their values with:
visible mentorship
transparent leadership
inclusive hiring practices
“Top mortgage employers do more than offer a role; they invest in their people,” says Rachel Doy, senior adviser at the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries. “We’ve seen some great examples from employers who are truly walking the talk, implementing initiatives that are not only impactful but deeply embedded in their workplace culture.”
These include:
structured mentoring and returner programs
mental health first aid training
robust DE&I strategies
support for professional qualifications such as CeMAP
clear progression pathways
Hilmi points to mission-driven firms such as Plend, which is expanding access to lending, and Updraft, which supports consumers through overdraft and credit card refinancing. “A business with a clear purpose and mission is always more attractive to candidates,” she notes.
For Marcus Nanson, NRG Resourcing director, some of the firm’s most successful clients have adopted graduate or junior schemes to address the skills gap in the market. “It’s a difficult process at first, with upfront investment in training,” he says. “But it pays dividends when you look at the long-term loyalty of well-trained employees coming through the ranks of some of the early adopters.”
Themes across MI’s data track industry standards, with culture, reputation, benefits and compensation leading in importance. The mortgage industry is also moving toward greater personalisation, flexibility and support for well-being.
“We see the biggest common denominator in the ‘revolving door’ businesses is the false promises in the recruitment process,” adds Nanson. “Staff retention is about doing what you say you’re going to do.”
That connection between company intent and employee experience was a hallmark of this year’s best mortgage employers to work for.
Key insights (2024–2025):
Culture remains the highest-rated benefit in both years, with an increase from 9.09 in 2024 to 9.36 in 2025.
Reputation and benefits also saw notable increases in importance.
Compensation slightly decreased in importance from 8.89 to 8.48.
All other categories show relatively stable or slightly increasing importance.
Employees at different tenure stages prioritise various workplace benefits, highlighting changes in what they value as their careers progress.
Key insights:
Culture is consistently rated as the most important benefit across all tenure groups, peaking for employees with less than 1 year.
Benefits and reputation are highly valued regardless of tenure, with slight variations between groups.
Compensation is most important for new employees (<1 year) and those with 10+ years, but dips for mid-tenure employees.
Advancement and innovation are more important to early- and mid-career employees.
Sustainable programs and DE&I are rated lower overall but still show meaningful importance across all groups.
There is an ongoing movement toward hybrid and remote work preferences among employees between 2024 and 2025.
Key insights:
The proportion of employees in hybrid arrangements increased from 61% in 2024 to 66% in 2025.
100% remote work also saw a slight increase, while employees’ choice dropped significantly.
100% office-based arrangements remained a small minority in both years.
Between 2024 and 2025, there has been a growing demand for hybrid and remote work options among employees.
Key insights:
Preference for hybrid work increased from 46% in 2024 to 51% in 2025.
The desire for 100% remote work also rose, while employees’ choices dropped notably.
Preference for 100% office-based work remains very low.
Workplace flexibility continues to shape employee decisions to stay or move on.
Key insights:
In both years, nearly half of employees would consider changing jobs for better work arrangements (49% in 2024 and 46% in 2025).
The proportion of employees unwilling to change jobs increased slightly in 2025.
Gold medal winner | Employees rated the company most highly for reputation, advancement and DE&I
The specialist buy-to-let lender based in Milton Keynes is a two-time Top Mortgage Employer who, in 2025, was again named a gold medal winner in the lenders category. But according to CEO, Jason Neale, the company’s recognition is no accident and certainly not the result of empty slogans on a wall.
“The culture that we have is a natural state for us,” he explains. “One of the main reasons we started this business was to build a business in the mortgage world that was a great place to work for great people, where they can come in, thrive and be trusted.”
What stands out clearly from employee comments is that Quantum Mortgages has cultivated a high-trust, growth-oriented culture where employees feel valued, supported and genuinely proud to work.
Several key themes emerged:
Strong culture and leadership support: “Culture is so important, and the leadership team has built a wonderful one to be part of.”
Employee satisfaction and loyalty: When asked what could be improved, many employees gave the same answer: ‘nothing’. The consistency of that response signals satisfaction.
Growth and opportunity: Some pointed to personal development as a clear upside. “I am fortunate to have been able to grow as the company has,” one employee said, tying their progress to the firm’s trajectory.
Constructive feedback: Where feedback was offered, it came with intent. Suggestions included more regular team meetings, additional flexibility, options such as salary sacrifice for extra leave and greater autonomy in how work is structured. The tone wasn’t critical; it was constructive.
Since 2022, the founding team has set out to do things differently. They had all come from large corporate and banking environments, where bureaucracy, micromanagement and “empire building” often got in the way of real progress. That experience shaped the foundation of Quantum’s approach.
Their definition of a great person is precise:
talented
experienced
hardworking
“Being a decent human being is also really important to us,” Neale says. “It comes to values such as being respectful. We don’t hire or work with difficult people or egos, and that helps our culture massively.”
It’s a philosophy that’s helped the lender scale rapidly, from 11 staff to 60 in under three years, and from zero to over £300 million in annual originations. Today, Quantum holds a £600 million loan book and continues to grow, competing directly with major banks and well-funded corporates.
But even as the company expands, its people-first approach remains intact. “No one in senior management has an office,” Neale explains. “We all sit in the open. Anyone can walk past my desk, sit down and have a chat.”
At quarterly company meetings, he shares full financials with the team. One slide always takes top billing: Create a good place to work for good people where everyone feels valued, appreciated and fulfilled. He asks the team: Are we still doing this? If anyone says no, they talk about why.
Autonomy is also a cornerstone of the winning workplace. Employees are trusted to do their jobs without micromanagement. New roles are filled internally wherever possible. And career progression doesn’t depend on having done the job before.
The company encourages both ambition and balance. For those with leadership aspirations, pathways are available. For those who prefer to “come in at 8:59 and leave at 5:01,” that’s accepted, too.
Neale is equally direct about listening to feedback. When employees raised concerns about annual leave, the leadership team responded. “We offer 23 days plus two over Christmas, but people said it wasn’t enough. So, we’ll add more.”
Formal and informal feedback loops help inform decision-making. In addition to surveys such as MI’s Top Mortgage Employers, Quantum runs its own internal reviews and encourages face-to-face conversations. Benefits such as private health cover, dental, free parking and death-in-service are already in place, but nothing is static.
“If people are saying it’s not enough, we need to listen,” Neale says. What matters, he adds, is staying true to the values that built the business. “We want to challenge big banks and bring common sense back to lending.”
The most frequently mentioned improvement areas by respondent employees to MI centred on organisations boosting satisfaction, retention and overall workplace effectiveness.
Top employee suggestions include:
Compensation and benefits
Better pay and salary progression: Many employees call for higher salaries, pay in line with market rates, more transparent wage structures and improved bonus/commission schemes.
Enhanced benefits: Requests include better medical/private healthcare, family benefits that are actually usable, more annual leave, sabbaticals and additional perks like car parking and dining facilities.
Work flexibility and arrangements
Flexible/hybrid/remote work: Employees want more autonomy in choosing where and when they work, including more flexible hybrid arrangements, the option for 100% remote work and a four-day work week.
Work-life balance: Comments highlight the importance of arrangements that support personal and family needs, such as flexible hours and more days working from home.
Career growth and development
Internal mobility and advancement: Employees want more opportunities for internal progression, clearer career pathways, leadership programs and training, especially for higher-skilled jobs and entry-level staff.
Recognition and reward: There is a desire for more structured recognition programs, performance-related pay and stakeholder engagement in change.
Communication and transparency
Clear, open and honest communication: Employees stress the need for transparent communication about pay, benefits and company changes.
Feedback and listening: Many want their feedback to be heard and acted upon, with better communication between departments and between management and staff.
Technology and systems
Modernisation and investment: Employees request improved technology systems, better hardware and software and more investment in digital tools to support efficiency and innovation.
Culture, team building and well-being
Positive workplace culture: Many praise the existing culture but suggest more team-building activities, family days and maintaining a supportive, inclusive environment.
Well-being: Suggestions include supporting mental health, reducing stress and workloads and offering wellness programs.
Sustainability and social responsibility
Sustainable practices: Some employees want more visible sustainability initiatives, such as paperless offices and support for BCORP certification.
DE&I: A few comments call for more proactive approaches to DE&I and equal opportunities across departments.
Eventus Recruitment Group’s Duncan McIlroy: “The talent shortage is brutal right now. I have three qualified advisers for every 10 positions. Experienced people know they can be picky about where they work.
Training and onboarding new starters can be problematic because of compliance requirements. Smaller firms especially struggle here; they need people contributing quickly, but regulations mean this often can’t happen.
Salary expectations have gone through the roof. I’m seeing base salaries 20% higher than three years ago. Smaller firms can’t always compete with the big players, throwing money around.
Everyone wants flexible working now, but mortgage advice still needs that personal touch. Finding the balance between remote work and client relationships keeps employers awake at night.
The generational gap doesn't help either. Younger advisers want completely different things from the old-school crowd. Managing those expectations can get tricky.”
Stellar Select’s Rosa Hilmi: “From my perspective, some of the biggest problems or bottlenecks are systems not being effective, communication not being there, not investing in people, not investing in retaining their staff and looking at problems internally. That’s a mistake because then it’s harder to replace those people when they leave.
Some of the problems are that the people mortgage lenders, brokers or packagers are looking for are a small pool of that talent. The challenges are that to attract this talent, they may have to pay higher salaries than they currently do, but that causes another bottleneck because it affects the staff they have internally.
If salaries are not aligned, they can’t move forward with plans to recruit talent at a higher salary range. That’s a very common bottleneck. We support clients with benchmarks and let them know the skills they’re looking for are rare and what those people are currently earning.
Those people have often been working for the same company for some time, so their salary goes up incrementally each year. To get those people out of the business is costly. If you can’t have a comparable salary for your internal staff, you can’t bring in fresh talent with the skills you need. That’s one of the biggest problems I’ve seen.
Another thing is counteroffers. Often, businesses won’t bring their salaries up to date, so they do it at the last minute. Sometimes that works, but if someone goes out to market gets more money elsewhere, they’ll tell their colleagues, and it’s a domino effect.
Unless everyone in that function is brought up to the new salary, it becomes costly to the business. Another problem is people being promised opportunities to develop and progress, but when it comes time, it doesn’t happen, and they aren’t given a reason why. Communication is key. If you can’t deliver something you’ve promised, you need to have a good reason why.
Other reasons people consider new jobs include hybrid or remote work, flexibility, well-being, development, coaching, transparency, and compensation. Some businesses tie people into equity or shares. In-house academies help retain staff by developing them further.”
Association of Mortgage Intermediaries’ Rachel Doy: “There is a shortage of experienced professionals in the mortgage sector, driven by a historic lack of investment in talent development, which has created an over-reliance on external hiring, an increasingly unsustainable approach.
Compounding this is the reality that many individuals don’t consciously choose the mortgage industry as a career path; rather, they tend to gravitate toward it over time, often by chance. As the sector modernises, there’s growing demand for people with a digital mindset and adaptable skills.
Retention becomes a challenge when career progression is unclear or when workloads, particularly during peak lending periods, lead to burnout. For business owners, the pressures are twofold: expanding firms must not only deliver consistently high service to a growing client base, but also find time and resources to invest in developing their people, a balance that is not always easy to strike.”
NRG Resourcing’s Marcus Nanson: “There is a clear skills gap in the market due to the low bar of entry, but the positive is that if you recruit people who are willing to learn and constantly improve, they shine in this market.
We tend to find that the bottom 20% are always looking for a new role, so it’s important to track and monitor passive talent as it is coming through, rather than accepting the low-hanging fruit, as that tends to breed a mediocre workforce. Recruit on behaviours and potential, rather than how long someone has been doing the role.”
The bar for mortgage employers has risen, and the gap between industry expectations and workforce experience is widening. Employers that thrive, such as MI’s Top Mortgage Employers 2025, in this market are building trust, investing in development, and backing up their values with action.
Key takeaways:
Retention now hinges on culture. Top performers expect a transparent, supportive environment where development is prioritised.
The talent pool is narrow and selective. Advisers with strong digital and compliance skills know their value. They won’t tolerate outdated systems or broken promotion promises.
Flexibility is foundational. Remote and hybrid expectations are shaping career decisions across tenureship and age groups.
Pay gaps carry internal risks. Salary benchmarks must be aligned internally to avoid morale issues and churn.
Reputation travels faster than branding. Word of mouth is a powerful hiring filter in a close-knit sector.
To help recognise and narrow down the nominations for the Top Mortgage Employers 2025 in the UK, Mortgage Introducer invited organisations to fill out an employer form highlighting their various offerings and practices. Employees of the nominated companies were then asked to take an anonymous survey evaluating their workplace based on eight key factors: advancement, benefits, compensation, culture, diversity, equity and inclusion, innovation, reputation and sustainable programs.
To qualify, each nominee had to meet a minimum number of employee responses based on the overall size of the organisation: employers with 10–100 employees must provide a minimum of 10 responses; employers with 101–500 employees must provide a minimum of 20 responses; and employers with more than 500 employees must provide a minimum of 50 responses.
Gold, silver and bronze medals are awarded to the top three companies in each category based on overall employee satisfaction.