About us

Saffron Building Society have been providing high-quality financial products and services for over 150 years. We have branches and agencies across the East of England and currently serve thousands of members and commercial clients. In 2007, Saffron Independent Financial Advisers (IFA) was launched to give members tailored help with reviewing individual finances and planning for the future. Saffron Mortgage Broking is a trading name of Saffron IFA and is building on the IFA's unbiased, personalised services.

Our people:

Richard Barrett is Sales Director for Saffron Mortgage Brokers, heading up the team.

His Financial Services experience is extensive and diverse. His first job was working as a Quantity Surveyor in London, but he soon joined a large branch of NatWest in the West End where his sales skills saw him develop in a number of areas. He became a Financial Planning consultant and trained as an IFA, going on to be an investment portfolio specialist, advising customers on getting the most from their money.

This ability to offer valuable, unbiased advice to customers took Richard to Charcol, the Mortgage Intermediary. He also worked for Bradford and Bingley; responsible for the training of their Wealth and Mortgage Advisers. He was head-hunted by Saffron in 2004, where he joined as Head of Regulated Sales. His responsibilities ranged from overseeing direct sales to liaising with Intermediaries. He was heavily involved in the establishment of Saffron IFA and also helped develop Saffron's staff training scheme.

Richard's experience is reinforced with a range of qualifications, including a full FPC (Financial Planning Certificate). He has full CeMAP (Certificate in Mortgage Advice and Practice) and is one exam away from his Advanced CeMap. Richard also has the APFC H15 Supervision qualification and cites a recent course on becoming a Neuro-Linguistic Practitioner as the most remarkable to date.

Richard's says that his Sales background has encouraged him to thrive under pressure and when working to tight deadlines, and this experience has its relevance when organising mortgages, particularly in the current climate. He has long advocated the value of a Broking Service. "It's about choice, at the end of the day", he says. "The media knows that Mortgage Broking is a great tool to sort your mortgage - why limit your options to the scope of your own research when an expert can do it for you?"

When asked what makes Saffron Mortgage Brokers stand out, he explained "The tie to Saffron Building Society is very important. We've been going strong for over a century and local people know and trust the Society. As a mark of our quality of service, our team are experts in the field - very experienced and extremely professional to deal with. Saffron Mortgage Brokers will be building on Saffron's reputation, which speaks for itself".

Michelle Milne is one of Saffron's Mortgage Brokers, coming to the service from over 19 year's experience with Saffron Building Society.

When Saffron's Great Dunmow Branch opened in 1989, Michelle joined as a Cashier. An extremely broad knowledge base is was (and still is!) required when working on the front line of customer service, which Michelle quickly developed. After 5 years, she moved to the Colchester Branch to take on the role of Assistant Manager, which involved a lot of administrative work but allowed her to continue using her customer service skills. In 1996 she was appointed Branch Manager back at Great Dunmow where she remained for a year.

Following her period as Branch Manager, Michelle's knowledge and skills in the Mortgage field saw her posted to Saffron's Intermediary Unit where she assisted external Mortgage Brokers with Saffron's product range. She was there for 18 months, until she was posted to Head Office to cover a Branch Manager's holiday. She then remained at Head Office, joining the Mortgage Team, where she was assigned to specific geographical areas in the region.

Michelle is currently training for her Advanced CeMAP (Certificate in Mortgage Advice and Practice) having already obtained the full CeMAP certificate. She cites her creativity and level-headed approach as strong assets in delivering excellent customer service. "Interaction with customers is what makes coming to work enjoyable for me" she says. "It's very satisfying to be able to do something for people - to make a difference to them, especially in unusual or difficult cases. Finding the solution isn't always simple, but the challenges make it worthwhile".

According to Michelle, the need for Mortgage Brokers is greater than ever. "The mortgage market is so huge these days, and changing very rapidly" Michelle explained. "If you really want to make sense of it, you have to find someone you can trust". Having been with Saffron for so long, but also having experienced dealing with many intermediaries, Michelle can see clear benefits from using Saffron Mortgage Brokers. "Saffron are big enough to provide an excellent quality of service, but small enough that this remains very personal and tailored to your needs. Give us a call and you'll see what we can do for you".

Peter Egan brings over 30 years' experience as a mortgage consultant to Saffron Mortgage Brokers.

Peter's Financial Services career began as a Credit Reporter, after which he joined the then Leeds Permanent Building Society in 1974. He then spent many years with the Society as a Branch Manager at Edmonton, Hoddesdon & Hertford. With the merger of the Leeds into the Halifax Building Society he continued as a Branch Manager for the Halifax before moving to the Royal London Mutual Insurance Society in 1998. This allowed him to build further on his broad experience of selling Life and General Insurance to suit a wide range of customers. From 1999 - 2005, Peter worked as a self-employed Mortgage Consultant for two IFA firms - in Tilbury Independent Financial Services in Old Stevenage and Grosvenor Trust & Savings Hemel Hempstead. He joined Saffron in 2005 where he worked in the Bishop's Stortford and Stratford Branches.

These roles have given Peter an extremely wide range of practice and understanding in the area's important to our customers. His work has seen him as an Arrears Councillor, Underwriter, Mortgage Trainer and able to liaise with Estate Agents, Solicitors, Accountants and Surveyors. As you'd expect, Peter's knowledge of the Home Purchase and Housing Market is expansive and something he takes great interest in. His experience is reinforced by an FPC3 (Financial Planning Certificate) qualification and full CeMap (Certificate in Mortgage Advice and Practice).

Peter's work ethos is grounded in the drive to make processes more effective and seeing projects through to completion. He explained: "Using a Mortgage Broker is simplifying the mortgage experience for customers. We provide a high level of service and care when recommending products, and will support customers from the first enquiry to closing the mortgage offer". Mortgage Broking involves working to pull together a number of different aspects; a function which Peter is accustomed to. "As well as work related experience gained, I've acted as a Governor of the Enfield College of Further Education to form and establish the college over a number of years." He said. "I'd say that this experience has made good use of my ability to get involved, steer projects strategically and see things through. Obviously, this is what you'd expect from a Mortgage Broker, and I am delighted to be bringing my skills to the team".