Stonebridge Group, the mortgage and insurance network, has announced a ‘record' set of quarterly results in its core mortgage and protection services.
Applications for life business for the year to date are 178% up on the same period for 2014.
This means that Stonebridge's growth in the protection sector is currently outstripping that shown in the mortgage market.
In year-on-year quarterly terms, Stonebridge was 92% up on quarter three 2014 figures.
For the first time in its history, Stonebridge Group achieved £1 billion worth of mortgage applications during a quarter. Quarter three 2015 showed a 61.5% increase on the same quarter in 2014 (£615m of mortgage applications).
The number of total applications was also significantly higher than a year ago, up 69% from 3,700 to 6,259.
Year-on-year mortgage application numbers are up 60% from 10,000 to 16,000 for the first three quarters of the year and Stonebridge has already exceeded the total number of applications for 2014 (14,000).
The latest independent review of networks and appointed representative (AR) firm numbers by Which Network recently revealed that Stonebridge Group had grown by 5%, increasing from 169 to 178 ARs.
Richard Adams, managing director of Stonebridge Group, said:
"Quarter three for the business was certainly a strong three-month period and, in the case of mortgage applications, we were able to mark a first for the business with £1 billion worth of mortgage applications being achieved. In the protection sphere we have also seen considerable growth in large part due to the buy-in from our member firms to ensure all customers are adequately protected.
"Protection advice is not a ‘nice to have' within Stonebridge firms, it is an absolute essential part of their services. This has meant overall protection activity growth has even outstripped our mortgage performance, and is testament to the ongoing focus from our firms in this area.
"Overall these results are down to a combination of considerable growth from our existing partner firms alongside an excellent recruitment strategy. We are focused and committed to ensuring all our ARs feel real value from the network. We believe that, with our investment from Shepherd Direct, 2015 has already been a landmark year for Stonebridge and we are currently developing a number of ground-breaking products which will launch in early 2016 that will help maintain the network as a highly attractive option for both existing and new AR firms."
