The GMAI Steering Group
Robert Sinclair
AMI Chief Executive
Steering Group member
Richard Merrett
Alexander Hall
"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 Green Mortgage Advice Initiative, 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.
Rachel Edwards
AMI
Working Group Lead - Adviser Awareness
Karina Gerdes
MAB
Appointed as Mortgage Advice Bureau’s Head of ESG in July 2023, Karina oversees all ESG-related activities for the business. She is responsible for ensuring the organisation has a wider ESG strategy in place, and that it is fully integrated with the wider company mission and vision.
Championing ESG initiatives and green mortgages, Karina helps to raise awareness of housing’s role in achieving the UK’s net zero targets among advisers and customers. She oversees the delivery of MABs ESG action plan, which aims to drive operational improvements across workers, customers, communities, the environment and governance.
With a wealth of experience in delivering change management and innovation across a variety of sectors, Karina's career has been marked by a series of notable achievements. Her previous role as project manager at MAB saw her responsible for overseeing defined business and IT initiatives, with a focus on digitalisation, system integrations with external parties as well as ESG.
Karina has acquired an extensive skill set over the course of her career, from nurturing stakeholder relations to project and risk management. Wider career highlights include playing a pivotal role in facilitating the sale of a £150 million business from private equity ownership to long-term investment. Additionally, she oversaw the rollout of multiple retail systems for Jaguar Land Rover, and has been passionate about continuously improving the businesses she has been working for since the beginning of her career.
Karina's ambition and determination are evident as she utilises her position to bring about significant change while ensuring MAB's remains committed to sustainability and ESG. Her unwavering motivation to make a positive impact on MAB, its stakeholders, and the environment perfectly aligns with the organisation's vision for a sustainable and inclusive future.
Trudy Woolf
esurv
"Having spent the last 20 years in the mortgage sector I have a passion for wanting to help educate on climate change and how we all play a key part in decarbonising the housing stock. By using my skills and expertise on the topic it can help provoke thoughtful discussions, shaping the direction and what better place than the Mortgage Climate Change Action Group, a fantastic group of people from a variety of backgrounds all on the same journey with the same vision."
Trudy is a Chartered Surveyor with more than 20 years’ experience working with lenders and surveyors in the residential valuation, survey, and mortgage industry. During her career she has worked as a field surveyor, before becoming a technical manager at the Lloyds Banking Group and now more recently Sustainability Director within Legal & General. Trudy is a RICS Fellow (FRICS) and a technical expert in the industry, specialising in new build, climate change and sustainability. Trudy has previously contributed to industry groups including the UKF, AIMCH, Future Homes Hub and regularly contributes to the RICS on technical matters and a named contributor on a number of recently published Professional Standards.
Tracie Burton
HSBC
Working Group Lead - Setting Standards
Christopher Hill
Yorkshire B.S.
Co-Lead - Outreach & Engagement
Jonathan Evans
Skipton
"As a mortgage professional with 18 years industry experience, I’m deeply committed to sustainability in the UK housing market. In addition to this, on a personal level as a parent, I recognise the importance of ensuring homes are as sustainable as possible for future generations. It’s refreshing to see the collaboration between mortgage clubs and networks to form the Mortgage Climate Action Group to further educate the intermediary market. It’s important because the housing market is a significant contributor to carbon emissions, and retrofitting homes is one of the most effective ways to reduce these emissions. Recognising this agenda as a significant milestone and turning point for the industry, I want to be a part of a group that sets out to help consumers and brokers with meaningful content and education."
Jonathan is a multi-award winning industry professional with 18 years industry experience working with banks and a building societies across the residential, buy to let and commercial lending sectors. During his career he has worked as a commercial manager for Lloyds Banking Group before entering the intermediary market as a BDM and National Account Lead at Skipton Building Society. He is dedicated to helping mortgage advisers effectively navigate the complexities of the UK mortgage market. Through his experience and detailed knowledge, he is passionate about raising awareness and providing education on industry topics and trends, with sustainability being at the forefront. He hopes to empower advisers to make informed decisions for their customers.
Jonathon Stinton
The Coventry
Co-Lead - Setting Standards
David Booth
Openwork
"The way we consume the world’s resources and how we interact with the world around us needs to change but it's difficult to know where to start. Coming together with our peers from across the mortgage industry, to share ideas, collaborate and look for ways of engaging with our clients on how to limit the impact that our housing has on the planet is what the Green Mortgage Advice Initiative (GMAI) is all about. There might not be any easy answers and lots of challenges to overcome but the GMAI gives us a unique opportunity to work in partnership with our peers to look for solutions."
David, Mortgage Proposition Manager at The Openwork Partnership
David has over 30 years of experience working in the financial services industry with various roles at Banks, Building Societies, Life Assurance companies and Distributors. As Mortgage Proposition Manager for The Openwork Partnership David builds and maintains the relationships with Openwork’s lending partners and ensures advisers at The Openwork Partnership have access to the lenders and products to meet their clients’ needs.
Neil Hoare
HL Partnership
Steering Group member
Rachael Hunnisett
Green Finance Institute
Steering Group member
Stephanie Charman
Sesame Bankhall Group
Steering Group member
Alex Beavis
Sesame Bankhall Group
Steering Group member
Tom Hunt
Paradigm
Steering Group member
Greg Cunnington
Legal & General
Steering Group member
Jonathan Buckle
NatWest
Steering Group member
Nicola Goldie
Aldermore
Steering Group member