Chairman's Foreword

With 2018 already halfway through and the summer holiday season about to go into full swing, it is perhaps appropriate to look back at what has been achieved so far and all that FIBA members have to look forward to.

When we formally launched FIBA in January, we outlined some of the initiatives that we would be working on, but it was also about the kind of ethos and member focus that we wanted to introduce.

In all the workshops, focus groups, awards and expos in which we have been involved this year, our message of inclusion and representation for all advisers who make their living procuring finance for business owners has found an attentive audience. Our core is specialist finance with a bias towards property and the number of individual brokers and intermediaries that have come forward to show interest in being part of FIBA has been a real surprise. This just goes to show how wide this market has really become over the last seven or eight years.

Being a not for profit organisation and backed by an AIM-listed company, FIBA has been able to bring the cost of membership in at a rate which makes sense for every adviser.  At £20 per person and a maximum of £60 – regardless of how many individuals are in a firm – FIBA offers tremendous value, particularly when you look at the benefits of being a member.

Let’s look at some of those membership benefits:

• access to all lenders – no need to be restricted in lender choice
• industry representation – FIBA carries the torch for the best interests of the sector and its practitioners to the highest levels of government and compliance bodies
• professional partners panel – access to ‘best of breed’ legal and surveying firms that have a real track record in dealing with commercial conveyancing, property valuation and surveying
• compliance support – dedicated but optional service.

For the monthly fee, there are a wide range of benefits available now to the membership but how many or how much each individual gets involved in our services is up to them. We believe that it is a matter of choice and is best left to the member. However, the services are there and can be accessed at any time.

We are halfway through our programme of 36 regional events for the year and we are due to add some more dates. We have just launched our latest round for September and could be coming to a town near you. It would be good to meet up.

Our primary goal through all of this is to make sure you and your colleagues feel that you have access to what you need, supported by over 400 staff. The membership is at the heart of what we do and assistance and advice is on hand to assist you and your business to become the best that it can be.

The aim was to become the natural home for specialist finance brokers and intermediaries. I think we are well on our way.