Broker in Focus: Neil Mulhern, of Echo Finance, leverages his strong people skills and head for numbers to make a successful career change
Broker in Focus is a dedicated series that highlights the unique journeys of mortgage brokers, providing them with a platform to share their experiences, insights, and expertise. Through compelling personal stories and professional reflections, each featured broker recounts the key moments that have shaped their careers, delves into the challenges and opportunities facing the industry today, and shares the valuable wisdom they have gained along the way.
This week, Mortgage Introducer is featuring Neil Mulhern (pictured top), advisor development manager at Echo Finance, who has spent 25 years in the mortgage industry after leaving pub and nightclub licensing for a more family-friendly career. Drawing on a natural flair for numbers and people, Mulhern has built his journey from the pre-regulation days of broking through to becoming a fully qualified CeMAP mortgage broker, and now champions higher professional standards, smarter use of technology, and a truly customer-centric approach to advice.
Full name: Neil Mulhern
Job title: Advisor development manager
Company: Echo Finance
Number of years in the industry: 25
Location: Wigan
How and when did you become a mortgage broker?
Originally, I worked in pub and nightclub licensing, but the hours weren’t very conducive to family life, so once I got married and started a family, I began looking for something more fitting. As someone with strong people skills and who has always been good with numbers, I saw an opportunity to become a mortgage broker.
At the time, I went straight into broking at a firm based in Manchester, as mortgage brokers didn’t need to be qualified in those days. Of course, once M-day rolled around, I became a fully licensed CeMAP mortgage broker, and have continued to maintain and build upon my professional status ever since.
In your opinion, what has been the most positive development in broking?
I think the regulation of the industry as a whole has been the most positive change. From the requirement for brokers to be licensed and professionally qualified, to the Financial Services Act in 2012, and even the FCA’s more recent Consumer Duty regulations – all have led to higher standards across the mortgage industry, with safer and generally better overall outcomes for the consumer.
What challenges do you see currently facing the industry, and what solutions would you propose?
The biggest problem I see at the current time is the disparity between the adoption of IT developments in different areas. While lenders have invested heavily in the automation of many processes, the legal side of property purchase remains fairly traditional in its processes.
We’ve seen the time taken for banks to make an offer reduce from an average of four to six weeks to a maximum of around two weeks, and in some cases same-day offers. This is due to the automation of certain underwriting tasks and things like Open Banking. However, conveyancing is still causing significant delays, often taking three months or more to complete.
In my opinion, the SRA needs to look at improving and modernising conveyancing processes. Whether that’s through automation, or a similar system to Scotland, where vendors are required to produce a pre-prepared legal pack, the legal side of the mortgage process needs to catch up with the lending side.
Can you share a memorable or challenging experience from your career as a broker and the lessons you gained from it?
I think the most memorable part of my role is helping those customers who have been dropped by other brokers. These are cases where the client has been told that there are no lenders available to them, but with a little change in perspective and in collaboration with a DA firm with genuine whole-of-market access, I’ve been able to help.
There are many different types of mortgage, and each customer is unique and individual. The greatest satisfaction is in helping them look at their circumstances from a different angle, repackaging their case and seeing them successfully access the funds to own their own home.
Could you share any valuable advice for individuals aspiring to become brokers or those new to broking?
The most important advice I can offer is to know your customer – and this goes beyond the FCA requirement. Knowing your customer shouldn’t be a box-ticking exercise and is not completed with a basic fact-find. Truly getting to know your customers as individuals with distinct preferences and circumstances offers the greatest opportunity to help them. It also often results in a long-term client relationship, rather than a one-off commission.
Broker in Focus is a weekly Mortgage Introducer feature, spotlighting mortgage brokers from diverse backgrounds and locations across the UK. Among those recently featured are Michelle Lawson of Lawson Financial, Matt Thomas of First Financial Solutions, John Carter of Abode Mortgages, Bobby Lumsden of RML Financial Management, George Christou of Bournemouth Mortgages, Amit Patel of Trinity Finance, Paul Came of The Mortgage Plan, James Hayes of Mortgage Links, and Gerard Boon of Boon Brokers.
Are you a mortgage broker interested in being featured? Email the author with your details.
