The week that was 25th April

My oh My …. It’s been a week of “diva’s”, “luvvies”, yet more “illegal” parties and the sad loss of a TV icon.

First up, the news that in spite of the fact that her Royal Meghan of Markleness will be flying over for the jubilee celebrations with Harry (and personal SAS bodyguards) in tow, her Majesty won’t however be inviting these 2 numpties to join her on the balcony for the celebrations!

Apparently that honour will go to ‘’Working Royals‘’ only!

Then on Sunday we had the return of the BAFTA’s with everyone finally attending in person after a long break. Sadly “It’s a Sin” failed to pick up any awards in spite of its record 11 nominations but Jodie Comer, Ant and Dec and Sean Bean all emerged victorious from the event and again we were treated to those red carpet appearances while the stars then got the opportunity to mingle at the after parties …. Talking of which it’s Mr Starmer’s turn in the headlines this week - never has having a beer and curry night with your mates caused such a hoo har!

Then finally we said goodbye this week to another TV legend as Dennis Waterman sadly passed away after spending an acting career which spanned 60 years including his most famous tough guy role playing “Terry” in Minder. Altogether now (for those of a certain age) “I could be so good for you…..”!

MORTGAGEFORCE AND FRIENDS;

Moving across to another legendary bunch….. you guys……. you managed to complete 83 deals in holiday-affected Week 17 for £33,946,304 of lending. 😊 Pretty decent, as many of you were away.

Top of the charts this week was the always red carpet ready Sandy McIlvenna who completed a staggering £8,418,892 (yes that’s right!!!!) of lending across 3 cases. No surprise here then that she also won this week’s Large Loan Award for her £7,850,995 deal with NatWest Bank. < more on them below in the Gaffer’s commentary btw)

Sandy was followed this week by Phil Lyle in second place with £4,274,955 of lending across 7 deals and a man who did countless mortgages for TV and POP CELEBRITIES IN THE 1970’S, Ron Walton with £3,459,501 of lending across 6 deals.

Then also walking the red carpet this week in terms of case value and volume were Sarah Norman, Warren Middleton, Sean McGeough, Mike Atkinson and Nick Harris.

On the lender side you completed the greatest number of deals this week with NatWest totalling 22 for £14,861,868 of lending.

Protection – Week 17

Sadly, things weren’t quite as buoyant over on the Protection side of the business this week with just 15 deals completed of which our own legendary Nick Price secured 8 and Russell Davis was runner up with 3 deals which included the 2 highest policy amounts of £317,000 each with AIG Life Insurance.

On the provider side you completed the most deals overall this week also with AIG totalling 6.

Birthday’s and other Parish Notices

Firstly this week , Massive congratulations to Leighann Sawyer who had her baby on Saturday. (.. that child is now firmly OUT OUT, girl!!!😊). We are delighted to report that Mum is doing fine and baby is in the neo natal unit and expected home in a week. Sending you lots of love Leighann.

Then Many Happy Returns for next week go to Zak Abdul Karim who will be celebrating turning 21 again on Monday! … 21 is also one of the bandit handicaps that Zak occasionally plays off, so he will be off 14 next Thursday week at Toot Hill. 😊

Club Notices For Members

The Gaffer will be on his vespa bike again this week with trips to Wales and Scotland upcoming , and his tour of the UK actually started yesterday in East Anglia where he met with the Cozens & Dean cast of Quadrophenia, the iconic 1970’s film.

Roger ‘Phil Daniels‘ Jones was in fine form and quite the pinball wizard. The team in the Fens are one of our longest-serving crews and their productivity is as exceptional as their compliance scores. Carrie Aylward and Elaine Rust are also exceptional folk at what they do. So a huge Thank You to them & the visiting Lin Jones (now permanent) for their kind hospitality. Hopefully Thursday night will see Tottenham in an equally hospitable mood 😊

Thankfully, further road trips to Blackburn and Brum were avoided this morning as messrs Rafiq and Virdi came to Darbados where it was a balmy 15 degrees earlier, so we all went with our early pre-summer shirt selections! 😊

Just a few other snippets;

• Our recent NEWSLETTER; It is not too late for you to get on board with this if you haven’t already . It neatly foretold the base rate rise last week and with utility costs rising etc , it focused on that too ( and the window to look at re-mortgage costs before rates go up again ) . Thus far it has had a 50% + Open and Read rate. On which note, please be extra cautious now when dealing with PURCHASE clients; expressions to get in to the pitch at the very outset include;

• ‘’The lender’s survey is obviously important but be prepared for a possible down-valuation Sir / Madam …. We are seeing more and more of these and this can affect what product you are offered and the affordability metrics used by the lender ‘’

• ‘’Please be mindful that with utility costs on the rise, lenders may well begin to tighten their affordability measures, and sometimes this can even happen before the Offer Letter is issued, or if material changes are made at a later date‘’

• RMAR Season; The deadline on this is this week, so Martin and Chris will return to normal coverage next week. Thanks again for your patience.

• Cannes / Antibes; Oct 5th / 6th; Some of you have already booked your accommodation (in Antibes is recommended) and they are finding that the costs were pretty acceptable; So don’t delay folks as if you leave it too late, you are likely to pay more. Each delegate attending will receive £200 from MForce on the week of your return.

• 121’S / CPD; Well done on attending these lately; Please remember, we need a min 75% attendance over the course of a year. 😊☹

And finally ….at the Midlands / North meeting today we took an albeit demographic poll on which mainstream lenders to use / avoid. Barclays remain a ‘marmite‘ lender, and HSBC have come off a touch now too. Natwest were by far the best in terms of service, with Santander in 2nd place. Keep this as a useful heads-up in the event that you have the ability to select pretty much any of the leading mainstream banks on similarly qualifying fact-finds etc.

Have a great week! 😊 And COYG‘s …..

.