We have achieved our best ever quarter for recruitment as we begin to deliver the strategy for growth following our recent rebrand.
The first three months of the year saw 36 new appointed representatives and 257 advisers joining our network making us the highest ever quarter for recruitment ahead of the previous record in the third quarter of 2009.
Future recruitment plans look healthy with a further 46 appointed representatives and 337 advisers in the application pipeline.
Growth across our network, which has continued to recruit during the Covid-19 pandemic, builds on current success and confidence throughout our business, which includes plans to further extend our distribution and range of propositions.
Around 4,300 advisers are now part of our network and there are now more than 700 member firms – which is the highest number of firms at any time over the past 10 years.
New firms joining have included Andrews Property Group which helped take the total of mortgage and protection advisers to more than 2,500. Mortgage advisers at Andrews and other firms are being supported to move into wealth advice.
Our specialist protection advice business, Owl Financial, is supporting advisers to move into mortgage and wealth business, thereby further expanding services across the network.
Claire Limon, Wealth Director, at The Openwork Partnership, said: “The rebrand earlier this year signalled our plans to target becoming the UK’s leading advice network ranked on better outcomes for more clients, by reputation and by growth across the business.
“Record recruitment across the network in the first three months of the year, with particular success in the mortgage and protection sector, is an excellent first step and we have a strong pipeline in place for future recruitment.”
We are seeing strong buyer demand in the mortgage market with the extended Stamp Duty holiday and the opening up of the 95% loan-to-value market providing a buoyant outlook. This builds on a strong 2020, which saw total completions increase by 3% to £19 billion despite lockdown shutting the housing market for two months.