Mortgage Soup fires the questions at Jason Berry, group sales director at Crystal Specialist Finance, around the latest MIMHC White Paper.

Mortgage Soup (MS): The MIMHC White Paper highlights that 22% of mortgage professionals reported poor or concerning mental health this year. Why do you think the problem remains so persistent?

Jason Berry (JB): Mortgage broking is a high-pressure job. Long hours, regulatory changes, and the sheer pace of the market all play a part. What we’ve seen in the White Paper is that while firms have started running wellbeing initiatives, too often they’re short-term fixes rather than long-term strategies.

To really move the dial, support can’t be a token gesture, it needs to be consistent, visible, and part of everyday business life – not just something rolled out during Mental Health Awareness Week.

MS: The White Paper recommends embedding mental health support as a long-term strategy. How can firms realistically do that?

JB: It doesn’t have to mean huge budgets. It’s about weaving wellbeing into the culture – making sure it’s on the agenda at board level, building it into people management, and checking in regularly with teams.

If you can normalise the conversation, you create an environment where people feel able to speak up before they reach crisis point.

MS: One of the findings was that staff often don’t know what support is available. What’s your advice to employers on that?

JB: Awareness is half the battle. You can have the best Employee Assistance Programme in the world, but if your people don’t know about it – or worry they’ll be judged for using it – it’s wasted. My advice is to over-communicate.

Put posters up, talk about it in team meetings, share personal stories from leaders. The more visible and human the signposting, the more likely people are to use it.

MS: How important are line managers in all this?

JB: Absolutely critical. A manager sees the day-to-day pressures their team are under. If they’re trained to spot early warning signs and know how to have supportive conversations, that’s where change really happens.

We should be treating line managers as the first line of defence for wellbeing  not just as taskmasters.

MS: The White Paper calls for measuring and benchmarking mental health. Isn’t that tricky, given it’s such a personal subject?

JB: It is sensitive, but if we don’t measure, we can’t improve. It doesn’t have to mean prying into personal lives. It can be as simple as anonymous staff surveys, tracking absence rates, or monitoring how many people use support services. Those metrics give leadership a clear picture of whether things are improving – or if more needs to be done.

MS: What role does collaboration across the industry play?

JB: A huge one. No single firm has all the answers. That’s why we set up the Mortgage Industry Mental Health Charter – to share best practice and hold each other accountable.

When a lender or network tries something that works, it benefits everyone if we share it, rather than keeping it in-house. Mental health isn’t a competitive space – it’s something we should tackle together.

MS: If you had to give brokers and firms a quick checklist based on the White Paper, what would it be?

JB: I’d keep it simple:

• Make mental health a boardroom priority, not a side project.
• Over-communicate what support is available.
• Train managers to spot and support issues early.
• Encourage regular conversations — not just when things go wrong.
• Measure progress, even if it’s just small steps.
• Share what you learn with the wider industry.
• If we did those six things well, the whole sector would be in a much stronger place.

MS: What would you say to someone in the industry who’s struggling right now?

JB: I’d say: don’t suffer in silence. You’re not alone, even if it feels like it. Speak to a colleague, your manager, or reach out for professional support.

Taking that first step might feel daunting, but it’s the strongest thing you can do. And on the flip side, if you notice someone else struggling, check in – sometimes a simple ‘are you okay?’ can make all the difference.

Read the report as an online flipbook HERE.