With the expansion of her business underway and a role in the government’s ‘new media unit’ to juggle alongside TV appearances sharing mortgage tips with the public, Sarah Tucker, co-founder and CEO of The Mortgage Mum, has a lot going on.
A little over a year ago, Tucker, (pictured), was asked to be one of the Prime Minister’s Future Voices when he launched his Plan for Change. An invitation to Downing Street to meet Keir Starmer followed, and Tucker nervously asked questions and listened to his views on homeownership and the housing market.
But things have changed since then and her confidence has grown.
Her presence has been requested a number of times to attend briefings and chat to ministers about challenges and opportunities in the mortgage and property market, report to her followers from the steps of Number 10 and feed back to the Prime Minister’s team what the public really thinks about its policies.
Scaling up the business
And it could not have come at a busier time.
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Last year’s investment from Mortgage Advice Bureau (MAB), for an undisclosed sum, has given Tucker and her team the opportunity to grow and take on employed advisers for the first time.
Tucker said: “We are rapidly scaling for the next five years to increase the team and that’s part of the strategy around the investment.
“We have the [money] to invest in people and tech, which is what we need to do to.”
The Mortgage Mum plans to recruit three employed brokers this spring and a further three in September.
“If our leads increase dramatically, we’ll be hiring more,” she added.
At the same time, the firm wants to take on at least another 10 experienced self-employed advisers.
Social media influence
But last year didn’t only mark a turning point for Tucker’s brokerage following the MAB partnership; she was also asked to join the government’s ‘new media unit’ as its sole mortgage and property professional.
The new media unit is made of a group of around 10 individuals who are either money influencers or business owners with a social media presence.
Tucker has 12,900 followers on Instagram, a growing audience on TikTok and recently launched a YouTube series, On The Ladder. On top of that, she makes regular appearances on ITV’s This Morning.
Her efforts to elevate her profile led to her early last year being asked to become part of a select group of content creators helping to spread news about personal finance, mortgages and the property market direct to the public, bypassing traditional media outlets.
A further six invitations to Downing Street followed and Tucker found herself chatting to ministers just minutes after the Budget speech wrapped in Westminster.
Tucker said: “It’s definitely taken on a new chapter. They see is as a long-term partnership.”
And it wasn’t held against her when, due to health reasons, she was forced to decline an interview with the Prime Minister on the day he announced the changes to ground rents.
Trust is key
But she’s keen not to be seen as a mouthpiece for the government.
She said: “I’ve worked really hard to be trustworthy and actually give people true information. I’m not interested in being in an alliance with the government.”
“I don’t necessarily label myself as a content creator. I’m a business owner and mortgage adviser, that’s what I do.
“I do educate using social media, I do go on TV, I do continue to promote the mortgage industry, so I do have a lot of trust from people that do follow my account for tips, and they trust what I’m saying.
“If I’m not authentic and I don’t ask the right questions, it can be damaging for me.”