Accord Mortgages - Growth Series Blog

Podcast #80 - Making Change Happen in the Mortgage Industry

Written by Jeremy Duncombe | Mar 8, 2023 10:00:28 AM



 

In episode 80 of the Growth Series podcast, we celebrate International Women’s Day with three women who are leading the way on improving diversity and inclusion in the mortgage sector.

Nicola Alvarez, Senior Manager Proposition Development at Accord Mortgages, is joined by Nicola Goldie, Head of National Accounts at Virgin Money, Lisa Martin, Development Director at TMA Mortgage Club and Atlyn Forde, Senior Manager and the Global and UK Diversity and Inclusion Committee Chair at Pepper Money, who discuss the type of work they’ve done in this area and why they wanted to be involved.

The group also discusses what impact this work has had on them personally, and they give incredibly candid answers. For example, they talk about how it can often be triggering and emotional, yet it has given them confidence to call things out when something isn’t right, and also challenged their own assumptions and unconscious biases.

Nicola then asks what employers could and should do to support their people, and the guests raise many interesting ideas, from embracing flexible working to gathering feedback on what’s important to the people within their business.

The conversation rounds off with ideas on how more people can get involved with the work taking place on diversity and inclusion in the mortgage sector, and their vision for the industry in the future.

Interested in finding out more about diversity and inclusion? Check out more on this topic here.

Accord’s Growth Series is a dedicated and FREE resource for mortgage brokers, containing blogs, guides and podcasts, to help you scale and grow your business.  For more hints and tips on how to grow your business, you can sign up to the Growth Series here.

00:50 to 41:01:

  • Introduction to the guests
  • Work currently taking place on inclusion and diversity
  • Why they wanted to get involved
  • The personal impact it has had
  • What employers could and should do
  • What smaller businesses can do
  • How more people can get involved with the work going on
  • A vision for the industry in the future