A North West business has broken into the UK's top five brokers in the equity release market in only its third year of business.
Fluent Lifetime, an equity release and later life lending subsidiary of Fluent Money Group, was named in the top five firms of its type - recognised for industry-leading, year-on-year growth.
The growth was recorded in equity release market statistics revealed by Touchstone, part of Equifax, showing the 12 months to the end of Q3 2020.
The business based in Horwich, Greater Manchester, was also named best financial adviser at last week’s 2021 Equity Release Awards.
Fluent Lifetime completed a record number of cases, as well as growing its North West team to 16.
It is now planning further recruitment in 2021, despite the overall later life lending market contracting in a year dominated by the pandemic.
Managing director Aaron Conlon said the growth was testament to parent Fluent Money Group’s infrastructure and investment in advanced technologies, supporting virtual advice in the last year.
Mr Conlon said: “I’m delighted with the growth and central to this has been our ability to provide a resilient service alongside our agility, transitioning to remote working quickly while still providing services with the right compliance and oversight in place.
“In many respects Fluent Lifetime had a head-start in delivering services remotely, unlike others in the market who relied on face-to-face contact and were severely impacted by the pandemic.
"The technology we had in place ensured we were available to serve when many were adapting to new working environments and market pressures.”
The announcement follows its parent Fluent Money Group announcing a record year, with a 53% year-on-year increase in its lending volumes compared to 2019, equating to over £1bn in its annualised lending run rate since July 2020.
