Broker Focus: Philip McLeod, mortgage expert at Your Local Mortgage Expert – Mortgage Strategy
Describe your firm in a few sentences.
Your Local Mortgage Expert is a small mortgage advice firm based in Lesmahagow, South Lanarkshire — yes, Lesmahagow is a real place.
We help clients across Scotland with everything from first-time purchases to buy-to-let properties, and we know the Scottish-specific stuff inside out.
Day to day it’s my colleague, Pauline, and me, and honestly that’s the way we like it.
The tech exists to make this process faster. The processes exist to remove the friction
Outside the advice business, I’m also co-founder of Advizo — a firm management platform built specifically for mortgage advisers operating as appointed representatives, giving them a business operating system they actually own, independent of their network. That came out of frustrations I experienced running my own firm.
What led you to become a broker?
I’d spent my entire career employed, always in finance, and mortgage broking had been sitting on the edge of my thinking for years. I kept circling back but never quite jumped at it.
Then Covid happened. As for a lot of people, it made me properly reassess things: who I was working for, how I was spending my time, what I actually wanted. I’d had enough of the employed world and this felt like the move I should have made sooner.
Ask for help. This industry has some brilliant, generous people and most will give you their time if you ask
I took the leap, went self-employed as an adviser under a firm, found my feet and then set up my own firm. Five years in, it’s the best decision I’ve made. I wish I hadn’t waited so long.
What plans do you have for the future of your firm?
We’re not trying to become a big brokerage. That’s not the goal and never has been.
The plan is to stay small, deliver a genuinely great service, and use technology to support more clients without compromising on quality. Not more advisers. Better processes.
I want to get to a point where the tech is doing the heavy lifting on the administrative side, so that the time I spend with clients is exactly that: time spent with clients, not on paperwork. That’s what good advice should feel like, and it’s what keeps me motivated to continue improving how we work.
The problem is the average age of advisers, and we’re not pulling enough new people through
What single thing could lenders do to improve brokers’ lives the most?
Speed of offer. Some lenders have genuinely nailed this: you submit a case, the process flows, everyone’s happy. Others are still catching up and, when you’re managing client expectations in the middle of a transaction chain, the difference is very much felt.
The tech exists to make this faster. The processes exist to remove the friction. It’s not about rushing decisions; it’s about cutting out the unnecessary delays that frustrate brokers and clients alike. The lenders that get this right are the ones brokers keep coming back to. It really is that simple.
What advice do you have for a broker just starting out?
Make peace with the fact that you’re trading your time for money, and then realise that’s actually not a bad deal.
You are the business. Every hour you put in has direct value and, in a profession where the startup costs are low and the earning potential is real, that’s a setup plenty of people in other industries would snap up.
Five years in, setting up my own firm is the best decision I’ve made. I wish I hadn’t waited so long
Get your processes right before you chase volume. Use the tools available to protect your time and make sure you spend it on the work that actually matters.
And please, ask for help. This industry has some brilliant, generous people and most will give you their time if you ask.
How can the industry encourage a new intake of brokers?
Start by being honest about what this career offers: low cost of entry, real earning potential, the ability to build a brilliant business with a small team, and a strong community. For anyone who’s ever thought about working for themselves, this is one of the most accessible ways to do it.
I want to get to a point where the tech is doing the heavy lifting on the administrative side
The problem is the average age of advisers, and we’re not pulling enough new people through. Firms, networks and those of us already in it need to actively champion the profession; not just through training but by making sure new advisers have the support and the tools to build something that lasts.
If you would like your firm to be featured in Broker Focus, please email Mortgage Strategy reporter Becky Bellamy at: becky.bellamy@emap.com
This article featured in the July/August 2026 edition of Mortgage Strategy.
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