Meet the non-judgmental mortgage broker urging clients to take honest look at their finances

The farmer's daughter was just 18 when she decided she wanted to be a mortgage broker and run her own company.

But she spent a decade working at other mortgage companies to learn the trade before formally starting her own operation in 2008.

"The credit crisis came which wasn’t the best timing but equally it taught me to work really hard,” Gilbert says of taking the leap to run her own firm.

After juggling her work with starting a family, recent years have seen the mum-of-two expand operations at Thirsk-based 1st Mortgage Services to take on a team of advisers.

Recent months have brought back memories of the financial crisis of the late 2000s as this year’s disastrous ‘Mini Budget’ resulted in rocketing interest rates and lenders pulling mortgage deals due to the uncertainty. While the situation is calmer, a new financial reality has set in with higher rates and costlier mortgages seemingly here for the foreseeable future.

Julie says: "When that Mini Budget came out it just set panic off across a lot of clients. We became an information bureau for people.

"As a mortgage adviser who has been doing this for 24 years, you have to calm your clients down.

"We had already sorted clients coming out of their rates up to April next year.

"They would have been safe but the interest rates kept going up and up. For clients who were in the process of buying a house or thinking about buying a house or even coming out of their rate in the next 24 months, they were extremely concerned.

"It is not just the mortgage payments, it is the wider cost-of-living, your energy bills and running your car.

"It panicked people no end. But really what brokers are there to do is to be there to inform and for clients to be able to pick up the phone and talk to us.

"Just having that support and giving that second opinion to help people feel reassured they are doing the right thing for themselves is important.”

The changing economic situation has led to some challenging conversations for Julie and her team.

"A really common habit we see is some people who don’t even look at their bank statements. It has got better with online banking.

"Because we have to look at the past three months of bank statements, we can say to people, ‘This is where your spending is and have you actually realised?’ It is much better to pay for your mortgage and bills first before going shopping.

"Many people going into overdraft facilities don’t realise the interest rates on them are now absolutely extraordinary.

"With the credit crunch a decade ago, interest rates went up and people weren’t making as much on buy-to-let. But it is not just mortgages this time, it is a person’s whole lifestyle that has categorically gone up.

"We’ve seen a lot of clients looking at going on variable rates because they are so much lower than what a fixed rate is. Every single client has a different circumstance and you have to advise on their circumstances and risk profile.

"Going back to clients and saying your mortgage payment is going to be £300 more a month, you are going to have to find that, is not a nice conversation to have.

"I try to handle it as calmly as possible. You have to stay calm and make sure you have solutions for clients before you speak to them.”

One of the things Julie’s company is keen to advertise to potential clients is its ‘non-judgmental approach’.

She explains: "We see clients at the bottom end of the income spectrum to the highest end of the income spectrum.

"We see clients with perfect credit scores and those who don’t. You also see clients who are happily married and those going through a divorce.

"When I say non-judgmental what I mean is I want the client to come in here and think they can open their heart about whatever their situation is and not thinking I’m judging that circumstance.

"We all have different lives and lots of things happen in our lives. That is our journey and sometimes you just need somebody there that is understanding.

"If somebody has got defaults on their name or county court judgements, they can still come and have a discussion with us. It might not be buying right there and then, but I can certainly help them set it as a goal.”

She says it is a privilege to work in Yorkshire.

"In Yorkshire we have a pristine type of client if I’m being honest.

"We live in a really fantastic area and relationships and community spirit is really apparent when I see clients. I see clients from all over the country and they absolutely love our non-judgmental approach and our hard work ethic.

"We say it as it is and are very approachable.”