Being proactive and meeting face-to-face is key to success, he says
Broker Thomas Boughton (pictured) had one over-riding dream growing up – to become a commercial pilot. And, having taken to the cockpit as a teenager, a career in the sky seemed assured.
Little did Boughton realise that he was destined for the world of mortgages instead.
“I was doing my private pilot’s licence - I loved aviation, and I loved flying,” he told Mortgage Introducer. “I started gliding when I was 13 or 14 and then moved over to propeller aircraft.
“At 17, for medical reasons, I couldn't go through a medical, so that dream dwindled away, unfortunately. It was incredibly tough. Being told at a young age that it's not going to be possible pushed me off course a little bit. I had no idea what I wanted to do other than flying - I’d put all my eggs into one basket.
“I actually dropped out of college when I was 18. Leaving college a year early, my prospects were pretty slim. I attempted to get into the Navy and then couldn't get in there either. I was just aimlessly looking around.”
A stint working at his father’s construction firm followed, and then Boughton took up a role at Mercedes, where he worked his way up – mostly in after-sales – and honed his business development skills.
Still unsure how he ultimately wanted to spend his working life, he went online.
“I searched something like ‘top paying industries for people with no degree, no A-levels’ and mortgages was one of the ones that was identified,” he recalled.
And just like that, Boughton found the industry that would become home to his clear ambition. He undertook his CeMAP training and secured a broker position at Capricorn Financial Consultancy.
“I started right off the back of the Liz Truss / Kwasi Kwarteng situation, when the market was really in a dire place,” he said. “But, I took to the job quite quickly. I think the benefit and the beauty of being at a big corporate firm in London is the exposure to so many different cases from day one. The first mortgage I ever arranged was for £1.1mn.
“You learn very, very quickly and it's just about how much you can apply yourself and how much you're willing to put into it.
While these days his feet may be firmly on the ground, Boughton clearly doesn’t let the grass grow under them.
“So, that 18 months there was, I would say, probably equivalent to a good few years,” he said. “I felt ready enough to start on my own.”
He left Capricorn to set up his own business, Artillium Finance Partners, which he helms from his home in Chelsea, London. Part of the Stonebridge network, it offers advice on a range of mortgages, from residential to buy-to-let, and commercial and development finance.
“I think your idea of success changes over time,” Boughton reasoned. “The first thing was ‘can I get a client’, then breaking through a barrier in terms of a certain amount written. As the income grows I think you’re looking at other people and thinking, ‘am I successful in comparison to them?’
“It's really starting to take off. I've got clients coming in, I’ve managed to sign up a decent network of introducers who are supplying me with leads. Mortgages are beginning to complete. So far, so good.”
He added: “It's the first thing I've done in my life where I can safely say that it's something that I've started on my own, and every milestone that I'm achieving is a result of my own work ethic and my passion for starting a business.”
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How important is it to meet clients in person?
Even though much mortgage business today is done remotely, Boughton prefers the personal touch.
“I try to meet as many clients as I can in person, because, ultimately, nine times out of 10, you're going to convert more people if you actually meet them in person and take the time,” he said. “If you’re dedicating more time than every other broker out there, most clients will look on that favourably.
“It's a service-based business. A lot of people will just submit an application, get a mortgage offer and that's it, job done. The value of a broker is keeping clients up to date with rates to make sure that when they do complete, they couldn't have been in a better position from an interest rate perspective.”
He added: “With a market that is fluctuating at the moment, if it's going to take them three months to complete on that purchase, that gives us a nice window to keep reviewing the rates for them. So, putting in an additional application or reducing the interest rate with the same bank they've already got the offer with. That's what I think differentiates one broker from another.”
With his business becoming established, Boughton doesn’t appear to regret that he didn’t become a pilot.
“I've got a couple of mates who are now commercial pilots,” he shared. “I kind of live vicariously through them, but I don't think it's a job to which I would necessarily be well suited, so maybe it was just fate all along.”
