First Mortgage North East: Foundations for the future

Phil McGuire opens a document on his laptop, the touchpad’s faint click drowned by a hammer drill’s rattling staccato beat.

Beside him, cellophane-sheathed picture frames lean against freshly painted white walls as, down a stone-carpeted staircase flecked by remnant building dust, a furniture delivery van’s engine idles at the front door.

First Mortgage North East has a new home.

For a business founded to help others lay down property roots, it makes for more than a poetic scene.

But its new two-storey surrounds, in Team Valley’s Marquis Court, extend far beyond the metaphorical.

The building work has transformed an empty shell into a nationally focused telephony hub, which will act as a digital twin to First Mortgage North East’s Newcastle, Sunderland, Gateshead and Chester-le-Street high street branches.

The venture will employ up to 35 staff across areas including mortgage advice, customer care and lead distribution.

A step beyond its North East heartland, it also represents, says commercial director Phil, a business leaning into ever-increasing technological demand.

He says: “We still firmly believe in our high street model, because many people still want a physical base to speak to someone.

“But the world has evolved since the pandemic.

“Prior to COVID-19, virtually 100 per cent of client appointments were face-to-face.

“Now, around 60 per cent of customer relationships are conducted through Teams or Zoom calls.

“The digital client hub means we can continue servicing customers in the region, as well as many more across the UK, offering channel of choice.

“But it doesn’t mean we’re forgetting our past,” says Phil of the business, which already employs 75 staff, including 32 advisors.

He adds: “We’re very proud of our North East roots, and our commitment to clients won’t change.

“We will remain an independent broker, providing a one-stop mortgage shop for the home-buying journey.

“The digital hub will add to that, providing more of the tailored services for which we’re known,” says Phil of the business, which boasts more than 29,000 five-star national Trustpilot reviews and 3200 five-star Google appraisals for its North East branches.

Its digital hub will be supported by a new academy, which will nurture the staff of tomorrow from January 2026.

Delivering Certificate in Mortgage Advice and Practice (CeMAP) level one, two and three training from national coach – and Future in Finance founder – Charlotte Hemmingway, the academy will be augmented by internal guidance from Phil, Ben and the wider team.

Phil says: “We offer customers the best service in the UK.

“That is driven by our experience and our employees’ skills, for which a number have picked up awards.

“They include a mortgage advisor who joined us from Nissan’s production line, who has worked hard and become one of the UK’s best advisors – he’s won five awards this year alone.”

“We take a lot of pleasure from seeing staff grow, and if we can replicate that on a larger scale through the academy, we will only move further forward,” adds Phil of the business, which recently picked up the Financial Reporter Protection Broker of the Year title.

It was also named L&G Mortgage Club Awards’ Best Broker Firm for Tech Innovation, honoured with a What Mortgage Awards’ Best Broker Customer Service accolade, and recently recognised as Top Mortgage Employer 2025 by Mortgage Introducer.

And yet it could all have been so very different.

Established in 2007 as M&R Financial Management by Phil alongside executive director Ben Riley, the firm quickly found itself at the mercy of the financial crash.

Having cut their mortgage sector teeth with Northern Rock, the pair branched into estate agency – Phil via Bellway Financial Services before switching to Rook Matthews Sayer – becoming CeMAP qualified in the process.

And then, in their mid-20s, only weeks after going self-employed to fuel their entrepreneurial endeavour, the economy came crashing down.

Three mortgage networks – Prestbury, Home of Choice and Burns Anderson-Honister Capital – joined to provide system, marketing and operational support – tumbled into administration.

In response, the duo switched to a directly authorised business model.

From there, the shifting sands began to steady and M&R Financial Management grew, opening its first office in Gateshead in 2010.

Phil says: “That decision proved a real saving grace.

“We put in an application five months before our last network went into administration – the authorisation had taken about six months.

“It is a significant part of why the business is here today.”

Their resilience was soon further rewarded in serendipitous circumstances, when a colleague’s departure to Scotland-based First Mortgage Direct paved the way for expansion plans.

Following conversations with managing director – now chief executive – Ian McGrail about its flagship fee-free model, M&R Financial Management became a franchise of the operator in 2013, switching to First Mortgage North East with a workforce of six.

Phil says: “There was a lot of common ground.

“Like us, they aspired to offer a best-in-market proposition to consumers – and they were free.

“Most brokers charge fees, but First Mortgage proudly never has.

“The model meant the business grew far more rapidly than the average broker.

“It was the right collaboration at the right time.”

With those strengthened footings, the business opened a high street base in the shadows of Newcastle Cathedral in 2014, and extended its Gateshead hub by taking on the colloquially known Billy’s Bargains DIY store in 2016.

In the same year, turnover broke £1 million for the first time.

Just months later, in 2017, it moved into Sunderland and Chester-le-Street, and, by 2019, had expanded its Newcastle hub, with the office set to be extended again by the end of this year.

Then came another poignant collaboration.

Having switched back to a network model, the company secured investment from London Stock Exchange-listed MAB in 2021, a “significant” moment, says Phil, which continues to catalyse year-on-year growth.

Since its headline backing, written business and mortgage lending have both doubled, with the number of mortgages supported passing the 5000 mark in 2024, the same year it tripled the size of its Chester-le-Street office.

The partnership has also boosted First Mortgage North East’s community ties, which include raising nearly £100,000 for causes including Pelton-based children’s charity Heel & Toe – for which Phil and Ben are ambassadors.

It is also a passionate advocate for grassroots sport, backing organisations including Whickham Football Club, Golf Club and Cricket Club.

Phil adds: “To continue our journey of helping people, we needed a partner that was right for us – and MAB is that partner.

“We’ve put solid foundations in place; we have the right people and the right products, we’re doing things the right way and we’re giving back to the North East.

“We are proud to be the UK’s most trusted advisory firm.

“We are the best in the business.”

 

First Mortgage North East

For more information about First Mortgage North East and how its brokerage services could help you, visit www.firstmortgage.co.uk.

To learn more about employment opportunities at the firm, email [email protected]

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