Mortgage Business Expo London 2007

After the success of last years' expo, we at Peninsula Finance have decided to head to the show once again. Last years show proved to be a resounding success, allowing us to take our genuine non status message to a wider audience of both new and existing broker contacts, and raising the profile of the company in the ever-changing commercial market place.

This years show is again being held at Earls Court, on the 14th and 15th of November, and is available free to all brokers who pre-register. This year registration is done online (unlike last year where registration forms were completed either beforehand or onsite) at the official Mortgage Business Expo website; www.mortgagebusinessexpo.co.uk.

Another change to the shows format is the addition of the NACFB sponsored Commercial Pavilion. Patrons and Members of the NACFB have been given the opportunity to exhibit within a specially designated area, allowing brokers to easily access a variety of lenders in a short space of time. This area also benefits from a 2 day seminar theatre, organised by the Council of Mortgage Lenders and chaired by the National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers. Peninsula Finance will be among the NACFB patrons exhibiting in the pavilion.

As part of the Show Organisers re-vamp of the Expo, visitors to the show also have the opportunity to schedule a meeting with exhibitors through the website. We would be delighted to accept a meeting with any brokers who wish to pre-arrange an appointment with us, although we will of course be delighted to see anyone who simply wishes to arrive on the day.

The Peninsula team at this years expo will be our Managing Director Alan Bridgeman, two of our underwriters, Daniel Palmer and Sharron Higgins, and myself. The company's Chairman Hugh Michelmore will also be present on our stand for the second day of the exhibition. We will be exhibiting on stand E72 and we hope that you will be able to visit us at the event.

Samantha Smith
Marketing Assistant

First Annual Peninsula Questionnaire

With Peninsula Finance's 5th anniversary recently passed and as part of our ongoing committment to providing the best possible service to brokers, we decided that this would be an ideal time to find out how we have been performing from those who know. To this end, we recently produced our first annual broker questionnaire which was sent out to a select number of brokers who deal with Peninsula most regularly. Our aim was to gain an aoverview of how our supporting broker network viewed us, our products,services and marketing, in the current marketplace, as well as hearing suggestions for the improvement of the company

Whilst glowing praise is always appreciated, we did very much welcome the constructive critiques from brokers which will help us pinpoint the areas of the company which could benefit from review.

We were extremely pleased with the results we received from the respondents. We pride ourselves on providing a high quality service to all those who contact us, so we anticipated that this would be reflected in the answers. Of the brokers who responded, 92% said that they found the overall service provided by Peninsula to be either excellent or above average, while 96% gave the same rating to the availability of our underwriting team.

As a genuine non status lender, we aim to be able to offer solutions to the most complex cases brought to us by brokers, with the questionnaire results showing that we are already well regarded in this field. 100% of the brokers who responded rated our willingness to place cases as either good or excellent, with 100% also saying that we stick to our genuine non status lending all or most of the time (5 and 4 on a scale of 1-5). Further to this, 95% of brokers rated the usefulness of having Peninsula Finance on their lending panel at either 5 or 4 on the same scale.

We also had a useful response from recipients giving suggestions for improvement or alterations which we are currently reviewing and have taken on board all of the comments received. We were pleased to be able to give our most regular brokers an opportunity to provide feedback on how we have been performing. To this end, we will now be distributing a broker questionnaire on an annual basis with a view to extending the recipient group next year, although we would be happy to receive comments and suggestions at any time.

I would like to thank everyone who took the time to respond to the questionnaire, and also to congratulate Michael Magee of Commercial Finance Packager on winning a magnum of champagne in the random prize draw of completed questionnaires.

Alan Bridgeman
Managing Director

Put A Face To A Name 

Hugh Michelmore, Chairman of the Board of Directors, was instrumental in the formation of the company in 2002. His involvement with Peninsula Finance runs alongside his position as the Senior Partner of Gill Akaster solicitors, who deal with Peninsula's legal work, and he has been heavily involved in the expansion of the company. Hugh has a number of interests including golf, travel and horse-racing, as he is a Director of Newton Abbot Races Limited.