Gareth is the joint majority shareholder along with co-founder Pete Willcocks. On a day to day basis Gareth oversees all sales and mortgage activities, as well as working with Pete to set and implement the business strategy. Gareth started his career in the later 2000’s, working at Mortgage Advice Bureau (MAB) selling protection products relating to mortgages. Over a decade later Gareth founded Roots with Pete Willcocks and now finds himself once more working closely with MAB – with Roots using MAB for all mortgages and protection products. In-between, Gareth worked as an in-house mortgage advisor for some of the East Midlands biggest estate agencies, eventually heading up the financial services arm of Taylors Estate agents in Leicester, leaving after it was bought out in 2018 to become Managing Director and 50% shareholder at Mortgage Experts in Rugby (which is where he met fellow 50% shareholder Sean Newman), and who use MAB no less for their mortgage and protection products – there’s a pattern developing here… Gareth is also CeMAP qualified.
A LEICESTERSHIRE MORTGAGE BROKER
Roots Contractor Mortgages is a provider of specialist contractor and freelancer mortgages to UK based customers. Formed in 2020 by a group of highly experienced mortgage and insurance professionals, many of whom have contracted themselves as well as having worked at board level at some of the most prominent contractor servicing companies in the country.
Roots Contractor Mortgages was setup to make getting a mortgage easier and more relatable for contractors and freelancers than anywhere else in the UK. Too many times mortgages are associated with boring men in suits talking at you, and talking jargon. We’re a fresh, young, relatable brand working in an old converted factory in the heart of the East Midlands, and we don’t wear suits or bring briefcases to work. We’re not bogged down with legacy systems, instead we utilise cutting edge technology and build our own systems. Most importantly when you talk we listen. It’s a hard job, but we try to make the mortgage and protection customer journey enjoyable for everyone – well, as much as it can be…
THE MORTGAGE LODGE
Roots Contractor Mortgages is a trading style of The Mortgage Lodge. Headed by Sabrina Lodge, The Mortgage Lodge services customers that emanate from Roots as well as from the advisers that sit within that business. All clients receive the same proactive, tailored, and friendly expert advice at all times.
OUR SERVICES
In a mortgage market where provider knowledge of how contracting and freelancing works is slim, Roots removes the common frustrations by offering specialist mortgages and protection on a whole of market basis – resulting in us often being cheaper than going direct to a high street bank or building society.
We have a highly experienced in-house team of experts providing advice to customers wishing to obtain a mortgage on a property in the UK. All of our staff are experts in specific challenges faced by contractor and freelancers in todays every changing and quickly altering landscape. Everything we do is customer centric, meaning from our first contact through to completion you get a service and advice that is completely tailored to your unique circumstances.
MEET THE TEAM
-
Gareth Love
Managing Director -
Pete Willcocks
Operations Director -
Sabrina Lodge
Director / Mortgage Adviser -
Sean Newman
Commercial Director -
Ashleigh Sims
Technical Director -
Chris Carvill
Head of Customer Care
Pete Willcocks
Operations Director
Pete is the co-founder and joint majority shareholder of Roots along with Gareth Love. Pete has been involved in the contractor marketplace since the mid 2000’s when he joined Qdos, rising all the way from Claims Handler to being a director on the group board before leaving in early 2016. Pete then founded Larsen Howie, replicating the Qdos model in selling business insurances such as Professional Indemnity, Public and Employers Liability, IR35 insurances and contract reviews to contractors and freelancers. Larsen Howie was bought by another marketplace competitor – Kingsbridge, backed by private equity firm Dunedin, in mid 2018 and integrated fully into Kingsbridge in early 2020, which is when Pete left and then founded Roots with Gareth Love. Pete is insurance through and through, exemplified by being FCII qualified (as well as holding the BA (Hons), MSc and CeMAP designations), a Past President of the Insurance Institute of Leicester (2016/17) and past Chairperson for the East Midlands region for BIBA (2017-18). On a day to day basis Pete oversees all operational and protection/insurance activities, as well as working with Gareth to set and implement the business strategy.
- pete.willcocks@rootsfinancegroup.co.uk
- 07872 553 884
Sabrina Lodge
Director / Mortgage Adviser
Sabrina runs the mortgage adviser team for both Roots Mortgages and The Mortgage Lodge (a trading style of Roots Mortgages) as well as continuing to personally advise clients on a day-to-day basis. Sabrina joined Roots in early 2021 as an adviser, before being promoted to the board and becoming a shareholder in the late summer of 2022 having showcased her outstanding skillsets and proactive approach to everything that was passed to her. Prior to Roots Sabrina held a variety of adviser and sales roles within the Connells Group, and before that experienced working on the other side of the fence for lenders that included Santander and Nationwide.
- sabrina.lodge@themortgagelodge.co.uk
- 0333 444 88 44
Sean Newman
Commercial Director
Sean has a portfolio of highly successful business he owns, including Newman Property Experts, Newman Estate Agents, Mortgage Experts, and over ten branches of Fine & Country. Having been involved in selling, letting and mortgaging property for over three decades, Sean has built up businesses from scratch and knows what it takes to make a business successful both in the short and long term. Sean provides a wealth of knowledge on all issues relating to property, and acts as a sounding board to the other Roots directors, providing guidance on strategy, marketing, sales and compliance.
- sean.newman@rootsfinancegroup.co.uk
- 0333 444 88 44
Ashleigh Sims
Technical Director
Ashleigh is the genius that sits behind the website technology across the Roots Finance Group. Another ex Qdos employee, which is where he met Pete and Chris, Ashleigh builds all of the proprietary Roots web technology that powers the business and its processes. Having always been interested in programming and website development, which he studied at university, Ashleigh has established his own company almost a decade ago creating websites for clients – before becoming involved in Roots given his experience in the contracting sector.
- it.department@rootsfinancegroup.co.uk
- 0333 444 88 44
Chris Carvill
Head of Customer Care
Chris has worked within the contractor industry for well over a decade, having previously held the position of Operations Director at Larsen Howie, and before that as Sales Manager at Qdos Contractor. Chris also has experience as a contractor having worked for himself via his own limited company for a period after leaving Qdos. Chris managed the Qdos sales team as it grew exponentially, overseeing all aspects of customer service, and has personally reviewed thousands of contracts from an IR35 perspective, giving him a deep understanding of the legislation. Chris is also CeMAP qualified and heads up our team of mortgage and protection advisors.
- chris.carvill@rootsfinancegroup.co.uk
- 07834 857 681