Equity release boom fuels record profits for Leeds firms Age Partnership and Pure Retirement

Two sister companies in Leeds have posted record profits of over £22m following growing demand for equity release amongst older homeowners.
By Chris Burn
Published 31st May 2023, 11:46 BST
Updated 31st May 2023, 11:46 BST

The UK’s largest equity release broker, Leeds-based Age Partnership Group, and its sister company, Pure Retirement, which provides home loan mortgage contracts within the equity release market, have written new loans of over £1.7bn between them and posted combined profits of £22.02m EBITDA for the year ending December 31, 2022.

The companies employ more than 700 people in the area.

During the financial year Age Partnership produced a £5.02m profit, up from £2.6m, while Pure Retirement built on its £13m profit for the previous year by posting a £17m profit in 2021.

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Andrew Thirkill, chairman of Age Partnership and Pure Retirement, has hailed the results.Andrew Thirkill, chairman of Age Partnership and Pure Retirement, has hailed the results.
Andrew Thirkill, chairman of Age Partnership and Pure Retirement, has hailed the results.

The equity release sector has witnessed significant growth over the past few years with new loans reaching £6.2bn in 2022.

A spokesperson said: “To meet this increasing demand, Pure has continued to invest in its loan servicing and technical capability to support third party relationships for its services and products, with its headcount increasing by 65 during the year to 277 employees.

“This has helped to establish Pure as the ‘provider of choice’ for funders looking to outsource equity release origination and the servicing of loan books.

“It had £4.3bn of loans under administration at the year end, which is anticipated to grow to more than £5bn this year.”

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Andrew Thirkill, chairman of both Age Partnership and Pure Retirement, said: "Increasing UK market demand allowed the company to assist more people than ever to realise tax free cash part of the equity in their homes.

"Improving their lifestyle and in many cases that of their families.

“To support demand, we are supported by outstanding teams across the two companies led by highly experienced CEOs in Steve Auckland at Age Partnership and Paul Carter at Pure Retirement.

“As well as achieving impressive financial results, both organisations have been recognised for numerous industry awards, with Age Partnership winning ‘Best Financial Adviser’ at the Equity Release Awards in 2022, and Pure winning multiple awards including 'Later Life Lender of the Year’, ‘The Later Life Lending Innovation Award’, 'Best Equity Release Provider’, 'Best Later Life Lender’ , ‘The Best Provider for Service’ and the 2023 Equity Release Broker of the Year at The Mortgage Awards.

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“Additionally Pure has once again retained the prestigious ‘Gold Investors in People’ accreditation with Age Partnership securing the accolade for a record 10th consecutive year.”

The group has also seen the rapid growth of Advise Wise, an award-winning sourcing platform and mortgage club founded by Jonathan Thirkill in 2019.

Advise Wise provides technology, specialist support and exclusive deals to independent financial advisors to drive the growth of the equity release sector.

Both companies stated that trading for the final quarter of 2022, and the first half of the current year, had seen subdued funding appetite following the impact of the ‘mini budget’ in September which impacted volumes across the mortgage market but they are now seeing signs of recovery.

A spokesperson said customer demand for the companies’ products and services remains very strong.

Related topics:LeedsAge Partnership