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Chris Schutrups on brokering business development

By Chris Schutrups

Founder, The Mortgage Hut

Clear, simple and honest advice are the foundations upon which Chris Schutrups’ business The Mortgage Hut has grown to receive its 3500 enquiries per month.

Chris’ own progression in financial services had beginnings in banking and stockbroking in London, followed by time in the Middle East as Managing Director of the UAE’s largest mortgage advice firm.

Now Chris, alongside his wife Nicola, is making moves as one of the UK’s leading mortgage brokers.

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What do you think is unique about a husband-and-wife partnership in business?

My wife was a British Airways cabin crew member when we met but she had also previously been in mortgages. We spent a year travelling together and then she joined me in the business.

Business can be all-consuming, and having a partner in the business means that they understand the pressures that are unique to being a business owner. The business is a lifestyle rather than a job for me, so having Nicola understand the business really helps our work-life balance.

My wife and I are probably quite close to the extremes of each other, and that works exceptionally well for us. She’s excellent at finances, legal, compliance and processes, whereas my strengths are marketing, sales, managing relationships and business development.

What’s your perception of the UK property market at the moment?

I started the business in 2011 following the credit crunch; the broker market really contracted and people left the industry.

We've seen a pretty stable market over the last five years or so and in the last 12-18 months there has been a big shift in people's working situations. We've seen people move because of that alongside the normal movement, and we've seen the government stimulate it with the stamp duty holiday which has brought a lot of people's purchases forward.

In July the stamp duty holiday came to an end which, along with the easing of lockdown, really took some of the heat out of the property market. We’re still pretty busy, October was our best ever month for income generated, and last week we had the most amount of customer enquiries we’ve ever had in a week.

In the UK, we have a massive undersupply of housing stock. We need 200,000-300,000 houses a year to be built based on current demand and we generally build between 100,000 and 125,000 so we keep on compounding our challenge of not having enough affordable, good quality housing.

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"In July the stamp duty holiday came to an end which, along with the easing of lockdown, really took some of the heat out of the property market."

What’s your perception of the UK property market at the moment?

I started the business in 2011 following the credit crunch; the broker market really contracted and people left the industry.

We’ve seen a pretty stable market over the last five years or so and in the last 12-18 months there has been a big shift in people’s working situations. We’ve seen people move because of that alongside the normal movement, and we’ve seen the government stimulate it with the stamp duty holiday which has brought a lot of people’s purchases forward.

What advice would you give to first-time property purchasers?

I think the challenge for people buying at the moment is that if it’s good quality, it moves very quickly and a lot of the time it goes above the asking price.

We try to educate our advisors on all the different schemes that are available to our clients’ individual circumstances. We have specialists in the new build business, specialists who deal with affordable housing, others that deal with buy to let or portfolio landlords. Many of our customers are self-employed because of the rise of the freelancer. A high proportion of the customers that we speak to will have already been told no by their bank and we’re their lifeline to make that dream of buying a new home possible.

"If I didn't have a mortgage business, I'm sure I’d still be a business owner because building something from scratch gives you such a sense of achievement and it's exciting."

Chris Schutrups - Founder of The Mortgage Hut

You’re a marketing enthusiast, how do you apply that to your business?

We do both business-to-business and business-to-consumer marketing. For B2B we focus on key stakeholders including developers, housebuilders, estate agents, and housing associations.

Our B2C marketing is focused on targeting where the customer is looking for advice, being relevant, and having good quality content. It’s about changing from a transactional mindset and building a relationship with your customers; we have a high conversion of existing customers who will come back and remortgage or get some new advice.

We also use different trading styles and brands for specific audiences, for example, we have a brand that targets police officers, police staff, and their extended families.

Can you tell us about your community and charity work?

I was a volunteer for Hampshire Constabulary and, particularly in the early days, my business was built on local customers so community and voluntary work are very important to us. We support our team to be able to volunteer within the community across all three emergency services. We have community first responders working with the NHS, retained firefighters, and police special constables in the business. We also support various local charities and football teams.

If you weren’t in the business of mortgages, what would you do?

In addition to the mortgage business, my wife and I have just bought a pub in Romsey. We’re also planning to build a group of food-led family-friendly pubs.

If I didn’t have a mortgage business, I’m sure I’d still be a business owner because building something from scratch gives you such a sense of achievement and it’s exciting.

We recently won three awards at the South Coast Business Awards. That was such a proud moment because it gives real recognition to our awesome team members who deliver excellent service to our customers.

What are you currently listening to, reading, or watching?

I recently read a book called Bad Blood about Elizabeth Holmes who’s currently on trial in the US for duping investors out of billions of dollars for her blood-testing biotech company in the Silicon Valley.

I read The Times business pages every morning, and I read the Financial Times every weekend. I enjoy keeping up to date on current affairs by listening to and watching the news so that my job stays relevant to what’s going on in the world.

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