We Are 15 Years Old!

Happy Birthday to us! Andy Wilson Financial Services is now 15 years old!

Our founder Andy started the business in May 2011 - which, looking back now, was quite a time to launch a mortgage and later life lending business.

The UK was still recovering from the aftermath of the 2008 credit crunch and banking crisis. House prices had fallen sharply after the boom years, mortgage lending had tightened dramatically, and confidence across the housing market was fragile. Some lenders had disappeared completely, others had radically changed their criteria, and the days of easy lending and self-certification mortgages had abruptly ended.

Back in 2011, many homeowners were still dealing with negative equity, restricted borrowing options and uncertainty about the wider economy. Banks were rebuilding balance sheets, regulation was increasing, and the mortgage market was slowly finding its feet after the biggest financial shock of a generation.

The later life lending and equity release market was also very different. Lifetime mortgages existed, of course, but the market was smaller, product choice was limited, flexibility was nowhere near as advanced as it is today, and public perception was still influenced by stories from older schemes many years earlier.

Advising in this area often involved educating people about how modern equity release had evolved and why safeguards now existed - so nothing has changed there!

Andy’s wife, Tina, joined him in September 2011 to manage the office and deal with clients. In 2019 Robert Drury came on board as our mortgage adviser, followed by Stephen Taylor in 2021. The dream team was complete!

In those 15 years we’ve seen record low interest rates, Brexit, COVID, a property boom, rapid inflation, interest rate shocks, major regulatory change and the complete transformation of later life lending.

And through all of it, one thing has remained constant:
People still need clear, honest and understandable advice from somebody they trust.

Fifteen years on, we are incredibly grateful for every client who has trusted us, every professional contact who has referred people to us, and everyone who has supported the business along the way. Thank you to everyone who has been part of the journey so far.

15 years done.
Still going strong.
And we are still absolutely loving what we do.