One to One: Darren Deacon, head of intermediary sales at Family Building Society  – Mortgage Strategy

Tell us a bit about your career to date

I started my career with Barclays Bank in 1989 — a broad and practical grounding in retail banking.

For the next 10 years I had a wide range of roles from back-office functions, then cashier, personal banker, corporate relationship manager and mortgage adviser. I gained a deep understanding of customer service and internal processes: a strong foundation for my future career.

I joined Alliance & Leicester as a mortgage and unsecured credit underwriter, before moving to Lehman Brothers as a senior mortgage underwriter. It was an interesting and challenging period that tested both judgement and resilience as the bank’s collapse triggered the global financial crisis in 2008. I spent the next seven years working as a mortgage adviser and financial services contractor, learning about different markets, propositions and business models.

Our lending decisions are based on real conversations, not box ticking

In 2015 I moved to intermediary sales as a business development manager [BDM] at Market Harborough Building Society, before joining Family in 2017, again as a BDM. I was promoted to senior account manager and in 2022 was appointed head of intermediary sales.

What is the main premise of your role?

To form a strong sales team that builds long-term, trusted relationships with brokers and other intermediaries.

We champion a flexible, common-sense approach, with a particular focus on manual underwriting. We specialise in later-life and intergenerational lending.

The intermediary’s voice is important. We conduct six-monthly surveys of brokers’ views and their feedback helps shape our proposition and grow our business.

Why did you enter the industry, and what other career path might you have chosen?

When I was growing up I wanted to be a professional footballer and even had the opportunity to go to America to play college ‘soccer’. But things didn’t quite go to plan.

The good people in this industry are resilient, know how to adapt and are supportive

That turning point made me reassess my strengths. It became clear that my analytical skills, problem-solving mindset and interest in finance made me more suited to a career in banking.

I feel I have put those skills to good use. I continue to help people achieve something hugely important in their life — property ownership.

What’s the best piece of business advice you have ever received?

Cammy Amaira, my former colleague and well-known industry figure, advised me to focus on doing the right thing, consistently, to produce results and build a reputation.

What are the biggest challenges the sector has faced during your time in the industry?

Geopolitical and economic shocks, most notably the global financial crisis; constantly changing regulation and legislation; rising house prices outpacing income; and sudden interest rate volatility.

We champion a flexible, common-sense approach, with a particular focus on manual underwriting

More recently, lenders and brokers have had to adapt quickly to affordability pressures, shifting borrower demographics and heightened expectations around service, speed and responsible lending, all against a background of market uncertainty.

But I’ve learned that the good people in this industry are resilient, know how to adapt and are supportive — qualities one develops by living and working through such turbulent times!

If you could change just one thing in the market, what would it be?

The siloed approach to later-life lending. Bringing together advisers, lenders and products in a joined-up, collaborative and coherent way would create clearer pathways for borrowers and deliver products based on real needs, rather than a rigid, one-size-fits-all approach.

We conduct six-monthly surveys of brokers’ views and their feedback helps shape our proposition and grow our business

What is Family BS’s USP?

For brokers it is an experienced, accessible BDM team with a ‘can do’ attitude, flexible thinking and relationship-led support that helps solve complex cases. Lending decisions are based on real conversations, not box ticking.

The building society we have today was created in 2014 to offer loans to would-be borrowers underserved by the major lenders.

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This article featured in the June 2026 edition of Mortgage Strategy.

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