Digital Innovation and Local Legacy Combine for Unique Mortgage Offering

Gary Stanton is one of three newly appointed Business Development Managers (BDMs) at Progressive Building Society, Northern Ireland’s local mortgage and savings provider.

“It’s my ambition in this role to amplify Progressive’s name right across our 11 branches.”

Gary Stanton is one of three newly appointed Business Development Managers (BDMs) at Progressive Building Society, Northern Ireland’s local mortgage and savings provider.

With more than 30 years’ experience in the financial industry, Gary brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to his role as BDM, which involves working with brokers and brokerage firms both remotely and in person.

Communication, Gary says, is crucial to ensuring that mortgage cases are being submitted in a timely manner and in clarifying any questions a broker may have. In the era of hybrid working, and to expedite the process, Gary always remains in close contact with Progressive’s teams and the wider broker network to promote what the Society has to offer.  

“It’s really to ensure that Progressive is known on the market for its great products,” Gary said. “With our 11 branches, we really are a local Building Society that caters for individuals within Northern Ireland, and we have an absolute sense of belonging commitment and responsibility to the communities we serve.

“We also want to ensure our brokers are confident communicating our business vision, our products and our leadership as responsible lenders. All of this supports my ambition in this role which is to amplify Progressive’s market positioning across our 11 branches and throughout Northern Ireland as a whole.”

Reflecting on recent trends within the Northern Ireland housing market, Gary commented: “The market here continues to show its resilience. We’ve seen eight quarters of consecutive growth with the pandemic prompting people to take stock of where they are living and whether it still suits their personal needs.”

Two years on, and the pandemic has also led to an increase in the number of businesses moving their practices online. Combined with the digitisation of everyday work, Gary sees this as an opportunity for business and brokers.

“Making our practices and processes easier for brokers and customers is a game changer. Digitising our current infrastructure, for example, with our broker mortgage portal really helps speed up Progressive’s turnaround of cases. For the broker and the business, it’s a win-win situation.”

However, it is local legacy where Progressive sets itself apart, according to Gary:

“In saying that I’ve worked within the financial industry for 30 years, and I think what makes Progressive so strong is that it still feels like the local touchpoint in the community. Brokers do business with us because they have a point of contact; customers enjoy it because they can walk into the branches and see a friendly face and experts who can provide them with sound advice.

“We try to make everything customer centric in what we do and help provide support at every stage in the mortgage process. In In my view success is based on the right blend of personal engagement and digitisation.  Progressive has that in spades which gives confidence to both the brokers and customers alike.”