The Intermediary – April 2025 - Flipbook - Page 75
I N P RO F I L E
Customer experience
Enhancing the overall customer experience
remains a top priority. Howells envisions delivering
this through the integration of new technology,
aimed at making broker firms more efficient.
He explains: “How we support our broker firms
to become better and more robust businesses
involves a combination of technology, education,
and training.”
PRIMIS has chosen Mortgage Brain as its
primary strategic partner to develop and
implement upcoming broker technology, which
is set to be unveiled in 2025. This new platform
has been designed to revolutionise how brokers
manage customer relations and leverage new
business opportunities, essentially streamlining
processes and providing bespoke options for
PRIMIS members.
Howells says: “Our new system takes the very
best elements of Mortgage Brain’s customer
relationship management (CRM) platform and
introduces bespoke capabilities for PRIMIS
members, such as the referral platform, where
broker firms can refer clients to other firms both
within and outside of the network.
“This will create more opportunities to
serve clients while generating new business
opportunities for broker firms.”
Howells understands the damage that standing
still can mean in a market, saying: “We are acutely
aware that other sectors are examining the UK
mortgage and property market with a view to
disrupting the current model.
“For our brokers to provide the guidance that
homeowners and buyers depend on to select the
best products, we must ensure that they are best
placed to take on that challenge.”
PRIMIS is also extending its support beyond
its network members by rolling out Novium, its
protection platform, to a broader market. This is
expected to benefit non-members, who will gain
access to a wider range of protection products.
As digitalisation gains traction across the finance
sector, striking the right balance between digital
efficiency and human interaction is crucial.
Howells believes that “the demand for quality
advice around complex circumstances means
consumers would rather talk to brokers when
they need guidance than engage with an artificial
intelligence (AI) system.”
Growth, success, scrutiny
Howells believes both organic growth and
acquisitions remain valid, saying: “You will see an
increasing amount of acquisition activity in 2025
as companies seek growth and scale, and we
should not rule that out for PRIMIS, but equally
we know there are many brokers out there who
would benefit from the kind of transparent
and innovative thinking we are putting into the
market. We want to grow our network to include
over 3,000 advisors.”
Howells believes this is an achievable target
given the transparent and innovative thinking
PRIMIS is bringing to the market.
These ambitions are set in the context
of growing regulatory scrutiny. Reviews of
protection, equity release and second charge, not
to mention ongoing evolution of Consumer Duty,
mean that compliance is a bigger issue than ever.
He says: “Regulatory expectations are a real
business issue, and what we see happening in
one market usually rolls out in others. We will see
more focus and scrutiny on customer outcomes,
and that will necessitate greater alignment
through product manufacture and distribution on
strategy and target market.”
PRIMIS has prepared for this by investing
time and resources in understanding regulatory
expectations, striving to remain at the forefront of
product governance in the protection market.
Howells says: “Our brokers will need our support
to navigate regulation. I find it frankly dangerous
for networks to downplay the requirements of
the regulator and put their members at risk by not
doing things properly.”
Reasons to be cheerful
Howells remains optimistic about the future, both
for PRIMIS and for brokers, saying: “Brokers have
heard time and again that change is coming, and
have been often let down by promises that have
been made. Our culture of transparency, desire to
improve the operating environment for brokers,
and drive to deliver propositions that produce
better customer outcomes, mean our goals should
be tightly aligned.”
PRIMIS is pushing forward
with a refreshed corporate
identity and a focus
ansparency,
on transparency,
essionalism, and
professionalism,
support for brokers.
ducation, training,
Education,
ompliance
and compliance
es remain
services
central.
ells concludes:
Howells
“Everything we do will
o some way to support
go
what brokers do best – give
et-leading advice to
market-leading
people who
value it.” ●
RICHARD
HOWELLS
April 2025 | The Intermediary
