Just Mortgages has reported that both its employed and self-employed divisions grew over the past year, with lending figures up 39% from £1.8bn in 2017 to £2.5bn in 2018.

The combined turnover for both divisions was £28.3bn in 2018, an increase of £8bn on 2017’s figure of £20.3bn.

The self-employed division, which launched in 2016, saw its profits more than triple in 2018 compared to 2017, while the employed division saw a 22% annual uplift. Overall across both divisions, profits were up 54%.

The two divisions combined saw broker numbers increase from 210 in 2017 to 320 in 2018. This was driven mainly by the self-employed division which has seen broker numbers almost triple in a year, from 81 in 2017 to 150 at the end of 2018.

John Phillips (pictured), operations director, said: “Over the past year, the market has been a bit tougher, and for many brokers, the fall in demand for house purchase hit them hard, with their leads drying up fast. They are then forced to start calling up former clients to try and get remortgage business.

“At Just Mortgages, we don’t work like that. We have always put client relationships at the heart of everything we do and our brokers are all in regular contact with their clients. So when the market is more focussed on remortgage and protection, for us, it is not a desperate attempt to find new leads, but business as usual.

“Our self-employed division offers a solution to brokers who are looking to go self-employed but are worried about giving up the support they get from being employed because it offers the best of both worlds.

“They are completely self-employed, and therefore, in control of their own business, but they have a dedicated sales manager to help and support them. We don’t charge a monthly fee, so it is in everyone’s best interest for our self-employed brokers to be successful, and successful they are.”