Announcing the winners of the Mortgage Finance Gazette Awards 2020
Updated: Mar 16, 2022
The Millennium Gloucester Hotel in London was the setting for an informal gathering to celebrate the Mortgage Finance Gazette Awards 2020
The Mortgage Finance Gazette Awards are divided into two sections. The first part is in recognition of the achievements of organisations and individuals and is a nominated process.
Organisations send in entries to the various categories and an independent judging panel deliberates and debates the merits of each entry. The judges were impressed with the high standard of entries and some of the categories were closely contested so choosing an eventual winner was a close call.
Categories range from innovation to community involvement – and the entries this year have once again been wide ranging and innovative.
On the judging panel this year were:
Joanne Atkin, group editor of Mortgage Finance GazettePaul Broadhead, head of mortgage policy at the Building Societies AssociationKate Davies, executive director at the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders AssociationAmyn Fazal, retired former chief executive of Penrith Building SocietyLynda Blackwell, consultant and former mortgage manager at the FCAKate Saines, reporter on Mortgage Finance Gazette and What Mortgage.
Product provider awards
The second part of the awards recognises best product providers. These categories have been worked out independently based on analytical data compiled by financial research company Defaqto.
The analysis takes into account various lending criteria including interest rates and fees on a range of loan-to-value bands, covering fixed, variable and discounted products over five time frames between September 2018 and September 2019.
Products are awarded points based on their competitive rankings, which are added up for each provider across each mortgage type to identify the overall positioning.
The final ranking also took into account the consistency of competitive offerings over the space of a year.
So the winners of the Mortgage Finance Gazette Product Provider Awards have proved to be consistent in offering good, competitively priced mortgage products during the whole year.
A list of the winners is here but a fuller explanations of why they won or were highly commended can be found here.
Innovation – Lenders
Winner: more 2 life
Highly Commended: Toorak Capital Partners
Innovation – Non-Lenders
Winner: Landmark Valuation Services
Highly Commended: Air Later Life Academy
Highly Commended: Phoebus Software
Mortgage Product Innovation
Winner: Darlington Building Society
Highly Commended: MBS (Melton Mowbray Building Society intermediary arm)
Retirement Mortgage Product Innovation
Winner: Parity Trust
Highly Commended: Leeds Building Society
Best Self Build Lender
Winner: Ecology Building Society
Highly Commended: Newcastle Building Society
Highly Commended: Saffron Building Society
Best Anti-Fraud Service
Winner: LMS
Best Use of Technology – Home Moving Services
Winner: DigitalMove – powered by ULS Technology
Highly Commended: Countrywide Surveying Services and Landmark Valuation Services
Highly Commended: Countrywide Surveying Services, Santander Mortgages and Landmark Valuation Services
Best Use of Technology – Mortgage Systems
Winner: Phoebus Software
Highly Commended: Iress
Highly Commended: Primis
Best Use of Technology – Lenders
Winner: Bluestone Mortgages
Highly Commended: Family Building Society
Highly Commended: Masthaven
Best Loan Servicer
Winner: Computershare Loan Services
Highly Commended: Pepper UK
Customer Service/Treating Customers Fairly – Lenders
Winner: Yorkshire Building Society
Highly Commended: Accord Mortgages
Highly Commended: Newbury Building Society
Customer Service/Treating Customers Fairly – Non-Lenders
Winner: Key
Highly Commended: Countrywide Surveying Services
Highly Commended: Pepper UK
Community Services – Lenders
Winner: esbs (Earl Shilton Building Society)
Highly Commended: Newcastle Building Society
Community Services – Non-Lenders
Winner: Computershare Loan Services
Corporate Social Responsibility – Lenders
Winner: Principality Building Society
Highly Commended: Darlington Building Society
Corporate Social Responsibility – Non-Lenders
Winner: Computershare Loan Services
Highly Commended: Phoebus Software
Best Debt and Arrears Management Strategy – Lenders
Winner: Newcastle Building Society
Highly Commended: Masthaven
Best Debt and Arrears Management Strategy – Non-Lenders
Winner: Computershare Loan Services
Highly Commended: Pepper UK
Best Law Firm
Winner: Aberdein Considine
Highly Commended: Ascent Performance Group
Highly Commended: TLT
Best Conveyancing Firm
Winner: The Moving Hub
Highly Commended: Blacks Connect
Highly Commended: Taylor Rose
Best Surveying Firm
Winner: e.surv
Highly Commended: Countrywide Surveying Services
Highly Commended: Pinnacle Surveyors
Leadership Award
Winner: Jeremy Duncombe, Accord Mortgages
Lifetime Achievement Award
Winner: Stephen Mitcham, The Cambridge Building Society
Winner: Wendy Graham, Landmark
BEST PRODUCT PROVIDERS
Best Overall Lender
Winner: HSBC
Highly Commended: Nationwide Building Society
Highly Commended: Barclays
Best National Building Society
Winner: Nationwide Building Society
Highly Commended: Coventry Building Society
Highly Commended: Skipton Building Society
Best Regional Building Society
Winner: Principality Building Society
Highly Commended: Nottingham Building Society
Highly Commended: Progressive Building Society
Best Local Building Society
Winner: Hanley Economic Building Society
Highly Commended: Loughborough Building Society
Highly Commended: Melton Mowbray Building Society
Best National Bank
Winner: HSBC
Highly Commended: Barclays
Highly Commended: TSB
Best Intermediary Lender
Winner: Barclays
Highly Commended: Accord Mortgages
Highly Commended: Platform
Best Online Lender
Winner: HSBC
Highly Commended: Nationwide Building Society
Highly Commended: Tesco Bank
Best Buy-to-Let Lender
Winner: Virgin Money
Highly Commended: The Mortgage Works
Highly Commended: Clydesdale Bank
Best Lifetime Mortgage Lender
Winner: Legal & General Home Finance
Highly Commended: Pure Retirement Ltd
Highly Commended: Aviva Equity Release UK Limited
Source: