www.mortgagestrategy.co.uk NEWS
IN BRIEF
�Overseas deals could
pay off for brokers
Mortgage Brain has
launched an overseas
mortgage service in
partnership with Conti,
which will pay brokers
25% commission for
each completed case.
�Debt firm adding 70
introducers per week
TCF Debt Solutions is
adding 70 introducers
per week as the trend
towards debt
management gathers
pace, says the firm’s
managing director Andy
Moody.
�Workshops to boost
brokers’ sales skills
The Association of
Mortgage
Intermediaries is
running a series of
workshops in
conjunction with LV= to
help brokers develop
sales skills. The first one
will be held in Edinburgh
on April 27.
�LV= extends offer on
unemployment policy
LV= has extended a
protection offer for new
customers which allows
them to make an
unemployment claim
within 60 days of taking
out a policy.
�Pink sees record number
of AR requests in March
Pink Home Loans
received 62 appointed
representative
applications in March –
a monthly record for the
network.
TECHNOLOGY
Trigold merger set for
shareholder go-ahead
● NATALIE HOLT
The merger between Trigold and
Crystal Software Solutions looks
likely to be given the green light by
shareholders
The deal is on track to be formally
agreed by the end of the month.
The combined business, Trigold
Crystal, will bring together Trigold’s
Prospector sourcing system and
Crystal’s Momen tum web-based
point-of-sale and customer relationship
management plat form to a user
base of around 25,000.
Martin Colyer, managing director
of Trigold, has been working on the
deal for the past couple of months
and will become joint chief executive
of the enlarged business.
He is confident of the support of
two of Trigold’s major shareholders,
Abbey and Prudential, and says that
the merger will take place under a
share deal arrangement.
Trigold Crystal will continue to
honour all existing agreements and
offer Prospector, Momentum and
Dashboard systems.
The business also plans to consider
an online direct-to-consumer
proposition and move its sourcing
software online.
Colyer says: “This is an exciting
chapter in the growth of the business.
This merger is a superb fit and
will allow us to work as a unified
team to deliver the next generation
PACKAGING
● NATALIE MARTIN, ONLINE EDITOR
of software solutions to the market.”
Joining Colyer as joint chief executive
will be Crystal managing director
Jon Whitmore.
Whitmore says: “The combination
of our CRM experience and Trigold’s
sourcing know-how will be key. We
are pleased to be
creating an exciting
product by
bringing the systems
together.”
Richard Angliss,
managing di-
rector of Home
Buyer Systems,
says the tie-up is
surprising as Tri -
gold’s rival Mort-
gage Brain is housed in the same
building as Crystal.
But he adds: “I can see why these
two firms would get together. It’s a
sign of the times that businesses are
rationalising.”
Paul Fradgley, chief executive of
Evaluate Technologies, says Trigold
has further to go in developing its
proposition.
He says: “This is an interesting
move but it doesn’t solve Trigold’s
immediate problem. Its system does
not represent lending policy accurately
and it hasn’t got a solution that
allows brokers to transact with consumers
online.”
Packagers access GEMHL deals
Manor Mortgages, All Types of
Mortgages and Enterprise Group
have secured places on GE Money
Home Lending’s distribution panel,
after the lender revealed it is to cut
its lending volumes dramatically.
They join 15 other brokers and
packagers that offer igroup products.
Manor is offering a range of mortgages
from igroup that are free of
early repayment charges if it is given
a month’s notice. The products are
for remortgage only, with defaults
considered.
They have a maximum LTV of
70%, a maximum loan size of
£250,000 and all satisfied County
MARTIN COLYER
THIS MERGER IS
A SUPERB FIT
Court Judgements are ignored.
Enterprise will continue to offer
second charge loans from First National
including Openloans for Openwork
and Loans of Choice for Home
of Choice, via Enterprise Finance.
First mortgages from igroup will
also be available through Enterprise
Broker Services and its subsidiaries.
Michael Clapper, group chief executive
of Enterprise, says: “As lending
restrictions continue to be a
problem for everyone in the mortgage
chain it is gratifying that
GEMHL has not only continued to
provide funding but also selected us
as one of its key distributors.”
BUY-TO-LET
Novice landlords
face legal perils
● NATALIE MARTIN, ONLINE EDITOR
Would-be sellers turned landlords
run the risk of fines and even prison
if they let out properties without
understand ing rental regulations.
Paragon Mortgages is warning
that so-called accidental landlords –
who let out their properties to avoid
selling at a loss – risk fines or prison
terms if they don’t comply with the
appropriate legislation.
Inadequate deposit protection and
lack of gas safety or energy certificates
are just some of the pitfalls facing
unwitting landlords.
John Heron, managing director of
Paragon, says: “The onus is on landlords
to comply with all relevant regulations
as they are liable if something
goes wrong even if they employ
the services of letting or managing
agents. Ignorance of legislation is no
defence.”
PAST TIMES
This week in...
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
Royal Bank of Scotland
rumoured to be
preparing a rights
issue to raise £12bn
Lehman Brothers
Mortgage Capital
plans to launch
specialist lender
GMAC-RFC completes
10 portfolio sales in
the first four months
of 2006, worth £2.1bn
Horsham-based All
Types of Mortgages
expands and moves
into larger premises
Preferred Mortgages
offers a discount of
0.25% on all loans
over £200,000
Chris Cummings
named as director of
newly-formed trade
body AMI
Monetary Policy
Committee minutes
reveal little evidence
of high LTV borrowing
MORTGAGE STRATEGY April 13, 2009 11
To view a Ceros magazine you need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser and have the flash player 8 or higher installed. To install the latest flash player, click the icon above, install the flash plugin and then click here to refresh this page.