FIBA Leeds event provides 'educational base' for intermediaries




Last week, the Financial Intermediary & Broker Association (FIBA) held its Leeds event, which provided an "educational base" for both intermediaries and lenders.

The event on Tuesday 5th June at the Village Hotel in south Leeds featured four lenders and one packager, and they discussed what they can offer the intermediary community.

Brokers were able to meet and discuss deals with representatives from Connect for Intermediaries, Go Develop, Roma Finance, Octopus Property and United Trust Bank.

The representatives from these lenders pitched their product offerings and took time to listen to deals from brokers and offered their feedback on how they could help.

Bridging & Commercial attended the event and sat in on pitches from lenders who offered their product knowledge to find a solution for the brokers’ cases.

Attendees also experienced a GDPR briefing by Mark Greenwood, group regulatory policy manager at SimplyBiz Group.

FIBA UTB

In addition, FIBA also announced the launch of a range of benefits that members can access online.

The FIBA member benefits package aims to provide support in all areas relevant to a broker’s business life.

Adam Tyler, executive chairman at FIBA (pictured above), said: “I think it went great actually, it was one of the most interactive events that we’ve ran.

“Everyone took part, everyone had plenty to say and everybody learnt something, including me, even after all these years.

“I think it’s important to go around the country and see intermediaries whether we are in Glasgow or whether we are down in Devon. 

“It’s important that brokers do take part because it gives them access to a group of lenders all in one place at the same time.”

Carl Graham, BDM at Octopus Property, said that the people that had turned out had been completely engaged in what each of the lenders in the room had to say.

“I think there is going to be generally good feedback from each of the attendees.

“…I certainly can’t knock the people that have joined us today and I think I will get something out of this for sure.

“Both for lenders and intermediaries it’s an educational base, so it’s an opportunity for intermediaries and lenders.

“This is a great platform for us to speak to the masses and really get our names out there for greater market share.”

Paul Mansell, BDM at United Trust Bank, said that there was a positive feeling from the broker attendees who asked some good questions and were willing to diversify and learn about the more niche and specialist lenders in the market.

“I think it’s very important [for intermediaries to attend] because going back to the diversifying issue, brokers can’t be too complacent in the market now.

“They need to think outside the box and look for new opportunities and the only way they can really do that effectively is to be prepared to learn and listen to what lenders are doing in the marketplace and take that away.”

Go Develop FIBA
 
Lynsey-Kay Porter, business development director at Go Develop, added: “It has been really good and has been a dynamic event with lots of chat and lots of interesting subjects of conversation.

“These are really useful for intermediaries to attend to find out a little bit more about what is going on in the market in general, and also what the lenders’ opinions and thoughts are.

“The major thing for me is the focus on FIBA moving forward and trying to create an umbrella for introducers to sit under, which will hopefully support them in moving forward and generating more business.”

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