BLV.L Regulatory News (BLV)

This announcement contains inside information. 

BELVOIR!BELVOIR GROUP PLC

(the "Company" or "Belvoir" or "Group")

Extension of Strategic Partnership with The Nottingham

and

Further Earnings Accretive Financial Services Acquisition

Belvoir Group PLC (AIM:BLV) is pleased to announce that it has exchanged contracts to acquire the entire issued share capital of Nottingham Mortgage Services Limited ("NMS"), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Nottingham Building Society ("The Nottingham") for a total consideration of £600,000 satisfied in cash from existing cash resources ("the Acquisition"). Completion will take place on 31 July 2021 and the Acquisition is expected to be immediately earnings accretive.

At the same time, The Nottingham is entering into a 10-year agreement with Mortgage Advice Bureau PLC ("MAB") to provide mortgage and protection advice, through Belvoir as an appointed representative of MAB, to its members via its branch network and over the phone. This service will be extended to users of The Nottingham's 'Beehive Money' app when it launches later this year.

This further strengthens Belvoir's strategic alliance with The Nottingham following Belvoir's undertaking of all estate agency and lettings services through The Nottingham's branch network in 2020.

The Acquisition

NMS delivers tailored mortgage and protection services to the members and customers of The Nottingham with its team based either in The Nottingham's branches, or from The Nottingham's Head Office, with NMS facilities in all 48 Nottingham Building Society branches across nine counties. To ensure a smooth transition, and to provide a continuation of services for The Nottingham, the in-house NMS mortgage team of 27 will move over to Belvoir but continue to serve The Nottingham branches and members as they do today.

In the year to December 2020, NMS reported revenue of £1,743,000 and operating profit of £255,000. The current year projected operating profit is £175,000; this being net of ongoing introducer payments to The Nottingham.

Given the existing presence of Belvoir Group franchisees within The Nottingham branch network, this enables Belvoir to extend its property services offered to The Nottingham's customers to encompass property sales, lettings and financial services. Currently 39 of the 48 Nottingham Building Society branches are dual-branded with a Belvoir Group franchise.

Long-term partnership

The Nottingham Building Society has long been committed to helping its members find the right mortgage for them, regardless of provider, and has been doing this since 2014 via Nottingham Mortgage Services.

As part of its reinvention plans to build a society for the future, The Nottingham identified that the best strategy going forward was to partner with a market leader that could extend this proposition to a digital-first audience. Through the new partnership with Belvoir, Mortgage Advice Bureau, one of the UK's leading mortgage intermediary brands, will take over the provision of this service. With over 20 years' experience in this field MAB is already using advanced digital tools to provide digitally-led mortgage advice, supported by over 1,500 advisers across the UK. With 240 advisers operating within its financial division, Belvoir represents around 15% of the MAB adviser network.

CEO of the Belvoir Group, Dorian Gonsalves, commented: 

"This is a significant step for Belvoir as we extend our partnership with The Nottingham and enable the continuation of mortgage advice to their members and to new members in the BeeHive Money app through our team of MAB advisers. Our strategic alliance is embedding really well across the network for estate agency and together we can help people not only find their new home but also fund it with the right mortgage for them."

Chief Executive Officer of The Nottingham, David Marlow, commented: 

"Helping our members find the right mortgage for them by searching thousands of products from multiple lenders has been a key part of the Society's purpose to help our members save, plan for and protect their financial futures for a number of years. Our new partnership with Mortgage Advice Bureau and Belvoir is a natural next step and an exciting development that allows us to extend and grow this service to our digital-first members who will be using the Beehive Money app, when it launches later this year.

"With us welcoming over 50,000 18-39-year-old Lifetime ISA savers, we know there's a strong appetite for this and we already have a strong cohort of future first time buyers looking to take their first step on the property ladder. We're delighted that this unique approach between a Building Society and a Mortgage Network will make the home-buying dream a reality for a new generation of members.

"The evolution of our mortgage proposition and our ambition to provide this digitally, as well as face to face is further progression in our reinvention journey and reflects our ongoing aim of serving our members with products and services that are relevant to them as individuals and deliver value to them in the most effective and efficient way possible."

Peter Brodnicki, CEO of Mortgage Advice Bureau, said: 

"We're excited to be entering this unique partnership with The Nottingham. The Society is a modern, mutual organisation with a long legacy of doing the right thing by its members and it's great to know that with this partnership, we will have the opportunity to provide digital led, in-app mortgage and protection advice, through our experienced advisers who will be helping tens of thousands achieve their home buying goals."

Digital mortgage advice, facilitated by MAB, will be available for users of the Beehive Money app and website which is currently due to be launched later this year and will be the new home of all of The Nottingham's online savings accounts, including its Lifetime ISA.

The person responsible for arranging the release of this information is Louise George, Chief Financial Officer of the Company.

For further details:

Notes for editors:

About Belvoir Group PLC

Founded in 1995 and listed on AIM in 2012 (BLV.L), Belvoir operates a nationwide property franchise group with 439 offices across six brands specialising in residential lettings, property management, residential sales and property-related financial services. With its Central Office in Grantham, Lincolnshire, the Group manages over 71,500 properties and reported record revenues of £21.7m in 2020 marking Belvoir's 24th year of unbroken profit growth.

For further information, please visit: www.belvoirgroup.com