The owner of an independent mortgage and finance company is celebrating a decade of helping clients achieve their property dreams despite unprecedented challenges.
Suzanne Bradshaw set up Mortgage and Finance Arena in 2015 and now has 10 experienced members of staff and a brand-new office on Pride Park.
But when she celebrated the firm’s fifth birthday, back in March 2020, just days later she was closing its doors not knowing if they would ever reopen.
The global pandemic and subsequent lockdown meant the property market was frozen leaving Suzanne and her team to face the biggest challenge of their careers.
Although she had no idea if her company would survive, Suzanne was quick to adapt; embracing digital solutions, offering virtual consultations and supporting clients navigating financial uncertainty.
Suzanne said: “I will never forget our fifth birthday because just days later I locked up the office and thought it might be the last time I ever saw it. I can vividly remember leaving work and going to see my mum and just crying – it was such a scary time.
“We had clients whose mortgages were going through at the time, which just stalled completely because the lenders parked everything. Obviously, no one was thinking about moving house, we couldn’t visit properties to carry out valuations and I thought our business was over.
“But then everything changed and business went through the roof. People wanted to move to get bigger gardens, if they were in apartments they wanted somewhere with more space and others wanted to remortgage to release equity.
“Then we had the stamp duty freeze and suddenly we were busier than ever. We moved on to virtual valuations and were able to offer bounceback loans, so my fears for the business were never realised, thankfully.”
It hasn’t all been plain sailing since then, the rise in interest rates in 2022 slowed the market for people moving house, but Suzanne’s interest in helping those who are self-employed or with more complex financial circumstances has helped the company ride the storm and thrive.
Now Suzanne is looking to take on two additional mortgage advisors and to expand the operation further into the commercial arm of the business.
And she hopes that mortgage rates will settle more comfortably around four per cent by the end of the year.
She added: “We usually have a financial crash every decade, but the pandemic has thrown that out completely. It’s far too complex an industry to say what I think it will look like in another decade from now – I just hope that some stability with interest rates this year will see people wanting to move.
“The past 10 years have been a journey of growth, learning and overcoming obstacles, but I am immensely proud of our ability to continue delivering outstanding service and helping our clients achieve their property goals.”
