HSBC Q&A

in association with

‘We need to keep doing what we’re doing’

How prepared was HSBC to have staff service brokers from their homes? Was such a long-term situation as the one we are still in ever planned for?

'It could be that our experience during this pandemic changes the way we work forever’

'Many of our brokers are engaging with our BDMs to better understand how we can continue to work together’

It is fair to say that the way the pandemic spread, and how quickly, took almost everybody by surprise. As a responsible business we continually look at business continuity and contingency plans to ensure we can continue to operate even if the unexpected does happen, whether it is a fire, flood, terrorist attack or, in this case, global pandemic. We have proved that we have been able to do that with regard to the technology, the agility of the teams and the ability of all our colleagues across HSBC to adapt so quickly to the challenges we have faced.

Like many other businesses, mobilising such a large team to work from another location – or hundreds of other locations, to be exact – is no mean feat. It wasn’t something we expected, but with a lot of hard work we were able to get hundreds of intermediary colleagues working effectively from home, not just in the UK but across the globe, within a week of lockdown, which allowed us to manage our broker applications effectively. We were under no illusions, and still aren’t, that we would be in it for the long haul. We need to keep doing what we are doing and, when the time is right, start mobilising people back into the office for what for many will be a welcome return to normality. It could be that our experience during this pandemic changes the way we work forever – more flexible working, more working from home where possible, and more of a split between home and office.

What was the reaction from brokers as you transitioned into working from home?

Let me start by saying how fantastic our brokers are and have been during the pandemic. Not only have they had to contend with their own changes to their working environment and how they conduct their customer meetings, but they’ve also had to adapt to all the changes the lending community have thrown at them. The record number of purchase approvals in September is testimony to their resilience and we’ve experienced that through their positive interaction with our telephony staff and our BDMs throughout. Having battled through the early stages of lockdown and the devastating impact this had on the housing market, many of our brokers are now engaging with our BDMs to better understand how we can continue to work together to improve their customer journey, their knowledge of our products and propositions, and how we can place more business together. This is currently being supported by a series of mini masterclasses, which are being run by a number of our BDMs. Our risk team are also conducting fraud awareness training up and down the UK - by video conference, of course.

Has the pandemic imparted any new lessons about the mortgage market or the homebuying process that would perhaps not have been made otherwise?

Definitely. One of the key lessons we’ve taken from this is how one or two organisations drastically changing their product availability can have such a significant knock-on effect to other lenders and the industry as a whole. Also, the value of professional advice has been magnified and it remains crucially important for the customer to seek out the services of a professional mortgage and protection adviser. We know that technology will continue to be a great enabler for our industry, but we must not forget that the ability to navigate a rapidly evolving market, with so many nuances, lies with top-quality advisers. Robotics or intuitive decision trees will not replace the confidence a human adviser gives the customer.

Get my summer holidays in at the start of the year! On a serious note, we’re clearly in a competitive market and we have to ensure we strictly follow all the regulations. That said, a more cogent industry narrative around issues such as higher LTV lending would seem reasonable to me. Also, we should not take the ‘norm’ for granted, such as those face-to-face meetings, lunches, conferences, awards ceremonies… but realise how lucky we are to have these opportunities, which may have been overlooked as ‘business as usual’.

All hands on tech

What does the future hold?

head of sales HSBC UK Intermediary Mortgages

Richard Beardshaw

In association with

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'Robotics or intuitive decision trees will not replace the confidence a human adviser gives the customer’

When the time is right, HSBC will bring its staff back to the office, but in the meantime it is proud of its hundreds of intermediary colleagues working effectively from home to keep everything going

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Q&A

q&A with Richard Beardshaw HEAD OF SALES MORTGAGE INTERMEDIARIES, HSBC UK

At what stage did it become clear that something happening on the other side of the world was going to affect the UK so dramatically and require every business to make such significant adjustments?

What supportive action are you most proud of having implemented?

First, mortgage payment holidays – what would normally take months to work through as a brand new process, took just a fraction of that time to go live and support thousands of customers. Staying in the higher LTV market for as long as we did is definitely worth mentioning too. Lastly, the sheer morale and resolve of our staff in handling the challenges of working from home, with many having childcare to contend with or being a carer themselves, and still delivering the best possible service to our brokers.

If we could spin the world back to February, is there anything you would do differently?

Richard Beardshaw Head of sales HSBC UK Intermediary Mortgages

Richard has more than 20 years’ experience in the financial services industry. He started his career at Scottish Life Assurance as a life and pensions consultant, before joining Platform Home Loans as a business development manager in 1999, working his way up to become head of sales. He joined Lehman Brothers in 2007 as director of sales for one of its intermediary mortgage brands, SPML. Following Lehman Brothers’ exit from the UK mortgage market in 2008, he worked briefly for a specialist insurance company, Exchange Bond, before joining Countrywide as an account director, where he was responsible for setting up and developing its surveying, conveyancing and asset management B2B proposition. Richard joined HSBC in June 2015 as head of sales and is responsible for HSBC UK’s external intermediary distribution, managing a team of more than 30 corporate account managers, heads of regions and business development managers.

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