Balsall Common’s Sandy Ameer-Beg is celebrating her 17th Anniversary as owner and Principal at Acclaimed Mortgage Consultancy, the Multi-Award Winning business she started from a bedroom in her family home in 2002, but which now operates as a team of 4 from offices in nearby Knowle.
“After leaving my job as a Financial Planning Manager at a bank I decided to use my existing qualifications to go it alone as a Mortgage Specialist.”
It was a career change inspired by a number of factors:
“I had recently become a Mum, with my son Theo and soon after returning from Maternity leave realised I wanted a role to fit around my newfound family commitments. My husband Gavin was supportive of a change and encouraged me by suggesting I could easily take on my own venture from home. I had also been reading the famous Susan Jeffers book Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway, so when I finally put the book down I thought ’Sod It’ I’ll do it!’
So after a period of planning and preparation, Sandy’s bedroom based business saw the light of day when she launched on 13th February 2002.
“My computer was the size of an old mini and the printer took all day to print off a mortgage application but out of humble beginnings…” Sandy pondered, reflecting on her journey.
Sandy’s Move into Equity Release
The turn of the decade saw Sandy venture into the Equity Release market, a resurgent sector recovering from a once murky past, linked to various questionable practices that were common place in the dark days of the unregulated markets of the 1980s:
“It’s not like that now, I wouldn’t be doing it if it was” explains Sandy, remarking on the safer, more respectable customer-focused landscape that exists today:
“17 years ago when I started out I had no intention of getting into Equity Release because I was one of those people that didn’t feel comfortable with it as a product. Although regulations to prevent consumers from losing their homes were now well established, there wasn’t enough products or options to really help consumers. If you don’t have a lot of
Sandy began studying towards her Equity Release qualifications towards the end of 2011, inspired by emerging opportunities in the market to help people ease their financial burdens in a safe environment, thanks to an increasing range of products and options in the market place.
3 Times National Equity Release Award Winner
Sandy has an impressive record at the National Equity Release Awards, having won the Sole Trader Category outright in 2013, 2014 and 2017. She was also a Runner Up for the same Award in 2015 and 2016. After her victory in 2017, Sandy was honoured with an approach from the Organisers about joining the judging panel, where she sat as a judge for the first time at the 2018 Awards.
Best Sole Trader Award – 2017 Equity Release Awards
Acclaimed Mortgage Consultancy in the Local Community
Sandy regularly supports local community causes through her business, recent examples of which have included support for the Jubilee refurbishment project and BalsallCom.Com’s successful 80s Music Night at the Heart of England School in November 2018. Sandy is also a long-running supporter for Balsall Common Primary School.
About Acclaimed Mortgage Consultancy
Sandy Ameer-Beg’s highly regarded Acclaimed Mortgage Consultancy was launched from a bedroom in her family home in Balsall Common on 13th February 2002.
After venturing into the Equity Release markets in 2012, Owner Principal Sandy Ameer-Beg won the Best Sole Trader Category at the National Equity Release Award on 3 occasions from 2013 to 2017, before going on to become a judge at the same Awards in 2018.
Acclaimed Mortgage ConsultancyPriest House
1624 High Street
Knowle
B93 0JU
Email: sandy@mortgage-consultancy.co.uk
Discover Acclaimed Mortgage Consultancy online
www.mortgage-consultancy.co.uk
