As a parent of 2 children, one of whom counts David Attenborough as his idol, the importance of climate change and sustainability has grown within our entire family. We’re not perfect, but we do make conscious effort to address every area we can to help play our part in making a difference, particularly in our personal consumption. We make a concerted effort to shop and eat sustainably and drive as little as we possibly can.
My involvement in MCAG is driven by the desire to bring some of this to our industry. I believe that as advisers, lenders and distributors we can genuinely make a difference through our collective influence. I think we have a great privilege to help people into home ownership and therefore a responsibility to help them make behavioural changes and decisions that can hopefully save them money in the long-term and have a huge positive environmental impact.
Richard is Director of Strategic Relationships for SimplyBiz Mortgage and holds responsibility for helping to shape and create the future direction of the mortgage club, working on propositional development with lenders and intermediary member firms. He is also a Board Member for the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI) and Chairs the Steering Committee for the Mortgage Climate Action Group (MCAG); a cross-industry collaboration aimed at acting as a source of support for intermediaries, helping them to understand and address green issues when dealing with mortgage applications, and ensuring that advisers’ interests are represented among lenders, regulators, trade bodies and government institutions alike.