Meet the Selection Panel

Richard Merrett is Managing Director of Alexander Hall, one of the UK’s leading mortgage brokers and part of the Foxtons Group. He speaks regularly on industry issues and is a passionate advocate of the consumer, championing their mortgage requirements through access to good advice. He has also held Director positions with largemortgageloans.com and in Distribution with SimplyBiz Mortgages. He currently sits on the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI) Board and is Chair of the Green Mortgage Advice Initiative. 

www.alexanderhall.co.uk/

Stephanie joined Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI) as Chief Executive in February 2025 having held previous roles within key distributors, spanning across 27 years.  Most recently Group Partnerships & Propositions Director at Sesame Bankhall Group and previously specialist distributor Positive Lending as Director of Mortgages and mortgage network Mortgage Intelligence as Head of Mortgages & Insurance.

Throughout her career working across the intermediary sector, Stephanie has been a passionate promoter of the need for, and value of, advice.

www.a-m-i.org.uk

Liz Syms, CEO of Connect Mortgages and Connect for Intermediaries, formed her multi-award-winning firm in 1998. With 27 years’ experience in mortgage and financial advice, her Specialist Mortgage Network now supports over 370 adviser firms across mainstream and complex property finance. Under her leadership, her team has helped countless clients and investors achieve their financial goals, embracing AI and technology to transform the mortgage process.

A committed mentor and thought leader, Liz serves as Chair of the Society of Mortgage Professionals, sits on FIBA’s board, co-created the CPSP accreditation and recently founded mortgagelab.ai, dedicated to AI education for mortgage professionals.

connectmortgages.co.uk

Graham is the Corporate Relationship Director for Connells Group, the largest property service and estate agent in the UK. Graham joined Connells in 2016.

Connells Group have a 10% market share of all property sales in the UK. They have a network of over 1,200 branches trading through 89 brands offering property Sales, Lettings and Mortgages. In addition Connells Group offer expertise in a range of corporate and consumer services including; New Homes, Conveyancing, EPC provision, Surveying, Corporate Lettings, Asset Management, Land & New Homes plus Auction business.  

Graham has over 30 years in Financial Services, after leaving University Graham joined Abbey National/Santander as a graduate trainee and spent the next 23 years holding various senior roles including marketing, Divisional Director in retail banking and Programme Manager for product development.

Graham is married with two daughters and lives in Buckinghamshire. He is an avid sports fan and enjoys walking and runing with his dog Max.

www.connellsgroup.co.uk

Andrew started in the mortgage industry in 1994 as an admin assistant, becoming a broker, a manager, and later co-founding Coreco in 2009. As CEO of the Coreco group, he successfully grew the company to become a well-known, dynamic brand, focusing on the overall vision, strategy, and culture of the company.

As Coreco’s media spokesperson, Andrew is a go-to expert and can often be seen or heard on TV and radio, as well as regularly commenting in the national, local and trade press.

Now in an expanded role with One Dome, he is also the Head of One Dome Growth Partners, where, as well as looking after Coreco, he heads up the One Dome Self-Employed team and Mortgage Intelligence Network, looking to invest in and help grow both self-employed brokers and AR firms in a fresh, dynamic environment.

More commonly known as "Monty" he is author of an acclaimed Mortgage Blog and the presenter of two well-received Podcasts, and is well-known for his social media thought leadership and public speaking, passionate about Financial Education, mental health and D&I.

Winner of several industry awards including “Mortgage Strategist of the Year” & “Mortgage Personality of the Year”, (twice), he is also a double recipient of the "Best Press Spokesperson" and “Best Marketeer”, and a four-time winner of “Business Leader: Broker” gongs at the British Mortgage Awards.

For the past five years Andrew has proudly served as Chairman of the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries, (AMI) as a cheerleader for the Mortgage Industry and continues to work at the coal face advising clients.

In his spare time, he writes and performs with his rock band Rogue Monkey!

www.coreco.co.uk

As Managing Director at Embrace, I work closely with a nationwide team of advisers, with a strong focus on supporting them acheive excellent client outcomes. 

I'm passionate about working alongside intermediaries, empowering them to overcome challenges and achieve their ambitions. 

www.embracefs.co.uk

Laura has enjoyed a varied career across the mortgage market, working across banking and estate agency businesses, including being a broker herself in the past and leading a team of mortgage advisers. She uses her broad knowledge to understand exactly what her brokers need from a BDM and mortgage lender.

Laura is known for always going above and beyond for the broker and their customer and receives high praise across the London market. Laura’s success led to her promotion to Corporate Account Manager in 2022.

Laura lives with her partner and boxer Wilson, and together they love their long walks that end up in the pub. The latest addition to the family is her granddaughter, Frankie, who can be seen and heard on the occasional zoom call.

www.hsbc.co.uk

Mark was appointed Chief Executive Officer of L&C in April 2024 and has over twenty years experience in the industry, having started as a Mortgage and Protection adviser in 2023.  During this period, he has built up an extensive knowledge of all aspects of L&C's market leading fee free proposition. 

Mark is determined to develop L&C's customer journey further to provide the very best customer experience whilst maintaining quality advice with no charge to any customer. He is also passionate about developing an inclusive and equitable culture for all L&C colleagues to inspire them to be at L&C for a career and not just a job.

Outside of work, Mark likes to sepnd downtime with his wife and three children.  He is a sport enthusiast, especially football, having been an apprentice at Bristol Rovers and enjoying a successful non-league careeer.

www.landc.co.uk

Clare Beardmore has held various positions during her five-year tenure at Legal & General, including Head of Broker and Propositions and Head of Mortgage Transformation. She is currently the Director of the Legal & General Mortgage Club, a key business area within the company’s Mortgage Services team.

Legal & General Mortgage Club is the largest and longest-running mortgage club in the UK and is involved in nearly one in five of all mortgages in the UK and nearly one in three of all intermediated mortgages. It is a part of Legal & General Retail, which covers the savings, protection, mortgage, and retirement needs of twelve million retail policyholders and workplace members.

Clare is committed to driving the digitalisation of the mortgage market and is also a prominent advocate for gender parity in the industry. She also regularly uses her platform to raise awareness about issues affecting brokers, particularly those at smaller firms.

www.legalandgeneral.com/

mortgage1st.co.uk

Matt is Sales Director at Nottingham Building Society, where he leads a growing team focused on supporting brokers across the country. He’s responsible for the overall distribution strategy, deepening key intermediary relationships and helping shape new mortgage propositions that meets the needs of today’s diverse borrower landscape.

Matt joined Nottingham Building Society in February 2023 from LiveMore, and has previously worked as a Mortgage Adviser at Clifton Mortgages, as well as holding senior roles at Legal & General, Bank of Ireland, Aviva plc, and RSA.

I’ve been lucky enough to work alongside some incredible young talent in our industry and always been impressed their fresh ideas, energy and determination. This campaign is about giving them the spotlight they deserve and showing just how bright the future of mortgages is.

www.thenottingham.com

With a background of being a broker, packager and a lender, Dale co-founded OMS (One Mortgage System) in 2017.  OMS is a multi award winning all-encompassing CRM and Loan Origination platform for Brokers, Networks and Lenders.  Dale also sits on the Industry Contact Group of the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI) and is a Director/Executive Committee member of the Open Property Data Association (OPDA).

onemortgage.co.uk

Richard has worked in the intermediary sector for over 35 years, holding senior sales management roles with leading Insurance companies, as well as leadership roles within the key account model for brands such as James Hay, Cater Allen and Santander for Intermediaries.

As managing Director for Paradigm Mortgage services his role is to drive growth with new partners and to build on the strength of existing partnerships with broker firms and strategic partners. In addition he looks to expand the Paradigm proposition for the benefit of all stakeholders.

Paradigm Mortgages is one of the leading mortgage clubs in the UK offering one of the widest propositions covering compliance, mortgage panels and protection in the UK, all backed by their unique, unconditional and transparent rebate proc fee model.  

www.paradigm.co.uk/mortgages

Louisa has worked in Financial Services for 30 years, primarily focussing on intermediary distribution.  She is the MD for Mortgages at Paragon Bank, a specialist bank working with landlords who are providing homes for the UK's tenants. 

www.paragonbank.co.uk

"Gareth joined SPF Private Clients in 2001 after graduating with a First Class Joint Honours degree in Economics & Marketing. As Director and Head of Lending, he has spent 25 years driving business growth, culminating in nearly £4bn in lending through over 150 partners in 2025.

Gareth cultivates strategic partnerships, innovates lending propositions, shapes industry strategies and secures cutting-edge market access for the business. Gareth also collaborates with marketing to generate nearly 8,000 press mentions annually. His deep expertise is widely recognized, earning him frequent judging roles for major industry awards."

www.spf.co.uk

Rob Juppis CEO of the Brightstar Group, the UK's largest specialist distributor of secured property debt, producing more than £1 billion of specialist property debt annually. With over three decades in speciliast lending, Rob is a respected industry leader, media commentator, keynote speaker and regular panellist. He has served as Chairman of the AOBP and on the AMI Industry Contact Group, while supporting ongoing FCA discussions on market issues. A five-time British Mortgage Award winner, Rob has twice been named Mortgage Personality of the Year at the Mortgage Strategy Awards. His passion for people, partnerships, education, regulation and raising industry standards underpins Brightstar's continued success. 

www.brightstarfinancial.co.uk