Access Financial Services has grown broker numbers by 80% so far this year.

The number of self-employed mortgage and protection advisers in the firm has risen from 100 earlier in the year to 180 now.  Access FS has also doubled the number of its head office staff and brought in administrative support for its advisers to enable them to have more client time.

Access has also announced the launch of a new compliance hotline, alongside its ongoing compliance training, to help advisers really understand how to ensure both their mortgage and protection cases are not only compliant but of the highest quality.

At its recent annual conference, CEO Karl Wilkinson handed out awards to advisers in the firm who had not had a single lapse in protection business for the whole of this year.  More than 10% of advisers who had been with the firm since the January had zero lapses. This means not a single client from those brokers had cancelled a protection policy this year.

Wilkinson (pictured) said: “The number of advisers wanting to join Access this year has exceeded our wildest expectations. What is better, it is our existing advisers who have been responsible for this growth. Our advisers tend to work heavily in their local communities. We have a very collaborative culture throughout Access where our advisers are encouraged to help each other and pass business to one another so they can focus on their individual strengths. This works so well that they then encourage other advisers to join Access to benefit from this unique support system.

“We also launched a regular academy this year to train and bring in people from outside the industry which has been responsible for 38 new people becoming Access FS advisers running their own businesses.

“The thing I am most proud of however is the number of advisers we have selling protection business, with no lapses at all. The need for people to keep their protection policies in place is of paramount importance as we head into a downturn, yet it is often the first thing to be cancelled as people look to save money. The fact that so many of our advisers have not had a single lapse is testament to how well the policies are being advised upon, with Access advisers ensuring their clients truly have the right product for their circumstances and genuinely understand their need for what they are buying.

“Next year we look forward to continuing our growth, while all the time increasing the value that we bring to the fantastic advisers that make Access FS what it is.”