The Intermediary speaks with Ivan Vizor, a key figure behind the upcoming UK Mortgage Convention, about the event taking place on 6th March at the Science Museum in London.
The first UK Mortgage Convention takes place on 6th March – what are you most excited about for this event?
There are so many things to be excited about. This is going to be one of the biggest events of its kind for many years.
I’ve been thinking about it for a while, actually two or three years, and once I’d conveyed the idea to Michael Craig, Brilliant Solutions’ MD, he instantly saw the vision and we pulled together a picture of the kind event we wanted, and how we would make it happen.
The first real buzz came when we started talking to sponsors – mortgage lenders and providers, from the big hitters on the high street to the more niche and specialist providers. The response has been incredible, everyone loved the idea of the event and have piled in to join us, it’s been genuinely humbling.
It was originally planned as a smaller event to see how big the appetite might be, but from the day that it was first mentioned, the whole thing started to gain real momentum as people jumped to get involved.
I put together a list of key speakers that I wanted to join us – some of the very best in an industry, an industry where we have so many fantastic speakers – and they all said yes. That’s when the levels of excitement actually went through the roof.
They’ll be presenting, but more that that, it’s about their experience and their ability to engage, entertain, educate and take mortgage brokers on a journey that will leave them feeling excited, and feeling hopeful about themselves, their businesses and the future of the industry as a whole.
So, to answer your question, I’m truly excited that we have pulled together the top speakers and the right sponsors for the event, to bring their economic and industry knowledge, insights, predictions, strategies and opportunities.
With some other events, first and foremost it’s about the expo hall, where all the lenders are. It sometimes feels like the speaker programme is secondary. This event has been primarily focused around the conference and the speakers.
Is the event an extension of Brilliant Solutions’ existing strategies?
I’m really fortunate to go to a lot of amazing industry events, big events that pull in so many brokers and really high quality speakers.
However, what I see is that these events are only ever aimed at big networks and the larger directly authorised (DA) brokerages. What that means is that the DA broker who very often work remotely, maybe a one or two-person company, or even brokers from larger DA companies who work remotely, don’t get the opportunity to attend this kind of event.
Brilliant Solutions is completely unique, in that we’re the only specialist distributor that also has a mortgage club, so we have relationships with brokers across the whole spectrum of mortgage advising, and we can see how and where they work. This has enabled us to identify the target audience and work to get them involved in the UK Mortgage Convention.
We have been committed to UK wide events for many years with monthly roadshows, breakfast events and round tables. Bringing education and collaborative events to mortgage brokers has been at the heart of Brilliant Solutions ethos for many years.
I’ve been around the industry a long time now, and it’s great for me to be with a company that continually commits to giving something back to the industry.
Working at Brilliant, having that platform and that background, enables a perfect foundation to build this event from.
You mentioned that you’ve wanted to do this event for years, why has it been on your mind?
I travel around and attend all these fantastic events as mentioned, and as I say, there are some amazing speakers in our industry. DA brokers in general will not have the opportunity to experience these often spectacular occasions, listening to those amazing speakers that enlightenment and inspire me personally, so organising the UK Mortgage Convention has given me an amazing chance to bring that same experience to more brokers.
Since Covid-19, many brokers have shifted to remote working, and our broker clients now include not just the larger companies, but also a significant number of smaller firms and independent brokerages that we’ve worked with for years.
For many of these brokers, especially the one- and two-person operations, working remotely can feel isolating, even lonely, and they don’t have the opportunity to connect with others, have a chat and a laugh, share frustrations about the industry, or celebrate the successes.
Bringing it to a personal level, I like to think of myself as very self-motivated, but I still need to be around people who inspire me, and I am lucky to have colleagues and peers that do just that.
More than anything, this event offers a chance for brokers to engage with their peers. Many are doing incredible things in an industry that’s evolved so rapidly over the past few years, and they can share a coffee or a beer with others, hear their stories, and exchange ideas and I can also guarantee they’ll have a really fun and fabulous day.
Have there been any particular hurdles while planning the event?
We do a lot of smaller events around the UK, and have done for a long time, so we probably average one or two a month – a breakfast event, a roadshow or a round-table. But even for us, this was a whole new beast.
I want to give a massive shout-out to Sally Miles, our director of marketing, and Beth Oddie, our amazing marketing assistant, because there have been so many hurdles to get over with this event, but everything that we’ve thrown at them – the good, bad and the ugly – they’ve overcome with real positivity and composure.
The biggest challenge really has been the constant scaling up of the event. So initially, we were thinking maybe 100 delegates, and then I spoke to lenders who wanted to get on board, as well as the speakers, and then as we started speaking to brokers, we soon realised that we were “gonna need a bigger boat.”
All of a sudden, the event was getting bigger and bigger, the top speakers came on board, more lenders came on board, and more delegates wanted to come on board. They’re coming out of the woodwork to join us.
There’s a lot of extra work that has entailed, like working out the flow of people on the day, the set-up, the logistics for so many stands and the equipment.
Obviously it’s all about working towards making the attendees on the day have an exciting and positive experience.
So, pre-event it’s been all about scaling up, but ask me the same question after the event, and I’m sure I’ll have a whole list for you.
What are you hoping delegates get out of the day?
I hope they feel inspired. I hope they feel motivated. I hope they feel it’s been a fun, engaging day and they feel emboldened – for themselves and their businesses – with knowledge and tips and nuggets of information.
I hope that they feel that they’re in a good place to go back, feel positive, and incorporate some of the day’s learnings into their businesses.
In terms of relationship-building, what I would say to every delegate attending is to come with an open mind and a positive attitude.
There are so many things that will be going on there that will give them super networking opportunities and I hope they reconnect with old friends and build new friendships.
The important thing is that every single broker goes home, and wants to come again next year.
Read the full interview, including in-depth market insights, in the February issue of The Intermediary, available in print, online, and distributed at the UK Mortgage Convention.
