…has just arrived.
So how important has the family aspect of the business been to AToM’s success? “We don’t know,” says Vic. “How can we? We’ve never had it any other way. The nice thing we have here though is that we can be more relaxed about decision making. There are no committee meetings and board minutes. It’s also important that we all bring different expertise to the table – from lending through to intermediary to IT.”
The inclusion of the one non-family member in the board is also important for the business says Dale. Tim Henson, the governance and compliance director at
AToM, has been at the fi rm nearly as long as Dale and “is part of the family anyway”. He has held senior roles at various regional building societies in the past including the Holmesdale where he was deputy chief executive. “Tim is great,” says Vic. “He’s one of those people who thinks in all directions under the sun and approaches lending criteria with a logical mind. That’s why he’s incredibly good for us as a family because we can make a family decision and he’s there with that logical perspective.”
onWarDS anD upWarDS So what does AToM look like with the younger generation at the helm? Vic will remain chairman and will still be involved in managing AToM’s relationships with other distributers and lenders, but it will be Dale, backed by Neal, Tim and Sheila, who takes on the day-to-day handling. “We’re excited about this year,” says Dale. “We have more lenders coming on board, we are speaking to networks we’re not currently affi liated with and we plan to grow the business. We don’t want to expand back to the days of dealing with every lender in the market because we want to deliver value to our lender partners. “The last two or three years have taught us all an immense lesson,” he says. “Packagers were a complacent order-taker in the high days of the mortgage market if truth be told. Today everything has changed. “There are only three or four other packagers in the market. Every case is a sale and we have to work hard to get business in from brokers. In fact, it’s more enjoyable this way but it’s tough.”
Dale is adamant that AToM is still a packager. Many other packaging businesses have rebranded themselves as distributors and specialist distributors, helping brokers get access to exclusives and place diffi cult cases on their behalf. “I believe we are a packager,” he says. “Since the crunch happened all we’ve heard is that packaging is dead. But we are still here, we are still packaging and I think lenders’ need for packagers will return more in the future. Lenders don’t have the staffi ng levels and they will need assistance. That’s what we offer.” It’s not just the front line service AToM offers lenders that
don’t want to deal with one man band brokers calling 20 times a day - it’s knowledge and expertise that sets them apart.
On top of that, our state of the art online mortgage system gives you the power to find out how a case is progressing. With quick decisions you can rely on. Email updates to keep you in the loop. And the ability to change applications both pre and post-submission. Halifax Intermediaries. Your first class service.
Leading the way for Intermediaries
www.halifax-intermediaries.co.uk
FOR THE USE OF MORTGAGE INTERMEDIARIES AND OTHER PROFESSIONALS ONLY.
The information within this advert is for professional intermediaries only. If you do not have the relevant professional experience, you should not rely on this information. It is not a consumer
advertisement and should not be displayed or used as such. Halifax is a division of Bank of Scotland plc. Registered in Scotland No. SC327000. Registered Office: The Mound, Edinburgh EH1 1YZ.
mortgage introducer MAY 2011 33
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