Editor's note: This brief was summarised by The Property AI Newsroom from a report by Mortgage Strategy. Read the original article for full details.
Mortgage Strategy marks 25 years of covering the UK mortgage industry
Trade title Mortgage Strategy has published a special 25th anniversary issue, looking back on key events in the mortgage industry since the magazine launched in September 2001. The feature includes interviews with past and current editors, plus industry figures with long associations with the title.
The first issue landed on desks just days after the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers in New York, with copy already written and pages gone to press. The anniversary issue is not solely a retrospective: it also examines what the mortgage industry has learned over the past quarter century and what to expect in the coming years.
Robert Sinclair reflects on two decades in the trade press
A prominent figure featured in the issue is Robert Sinclair, former chief executive of the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (Ami). When Mortgage Strategy launched in 2001, Sinclair was working in mainstream banking, having spent more than two decades with HSBC and later Santander UK across personal, private and corporate banking.
By 2006 he had joined the Association of Independent Financial Advisers (Aifa) as a director, representing broker firms involved in consumer finance and lending, and went on to help establish Ami as an independent organisation rather than a part of Aifa. It was also in 2006 that his name first appeared in the magazine, either quoted in news articles or as a bylined contributor.
Sinclair said the title has served as a mirror on the industry, forcing debate between advisers and lenders and educating the broker population. He added that, during his time heading Ami, he worked with the magazine's journalists to raise awareness of core issues.
A quarter century of industry shocks
Since the magazine launched, the industry has faced a series of stressful events, including the financial crisis, Brexit, Covid and the Liz Truss Mini-Budget. Sinclair recalled being at a MAB conference on the night of the Brexit vote and initially assuming the Leave result he saw on television must have been imagined.
On the pandemic, Sinclair said the industry adapted incredibly well, sourcing technology and working together to keep the market going, and he credited Kate Faulkner with playing an integral role in drawing all parties together. He noted that the collaborative working seen during the pandemic has, to some degree, continued since.
Source: Mortgage Strategy