Mortgage Broker Colchester: The Fowler Smith Approach to Client Care

11 hours ago

4 min read

If you're searching for a mortgage broker in Colchester, you'll find no shortage of firms telling you they're friendly and here to help. We are too, but I'd rather you knew what that actually looks like before you pick up the phone, not just take our word for it. This is Jonathan, one of the founders, and I want to give you the real story of who we are and how we work.

How Fowler Smith started

I came into this industry through property, working in the fast-paced markets of East London and West Essex before I found my way into arranging finance. Along the way, I saw how often good cases fell through the cracks not because of the numbers, but because of poor communication somewhere in the process.

Charlie, my co-founder, came at it from a different angle. He started out in property across Essex and Suffolk, moved into mortgage advice focused on new builds, and then found his niche in adverse credit, helping clients who'd already been told no elsewhere. Two different routes into the same industry, but a shared focus on doing right by clients who needed more than a standard, one-size-fits-all approach.

That's the foundation Fowler Smith was built on.

What we actually believe

We've never been interested in being the biggest firm in Colchester. We'd rather be the one you trust. If I had to boil it down, it comes to three things: attentiveness, breadth, and refusing to give up.

Attentiveness means actually listening before we start searching for a solution, not fitting your situation into whatever's easiest to place. Breadth means we don't turn people away when a case gets complicated; we've built the team and the lender relationships specifically so we don't have to. And never giving up is exactly what it sounds like.

If the first answer is no, we treat that as the start of the conversation, not the end of it.

Every client gets two people, not one

Here's something most brokers don't tell you upfront: a huge amount of what makes a mortgage stressful has nothing to do with your finances. It's poor communication, from agents, from solicitors, from developers, updates that go quiet for weeks at a time while you're left wondering what's happening.

We built our model specifically to fix that. Every client at Fowler Smith works with both a Mortgage Adviser and a Client Account Executive. Your adviser is finding the right route through the market for your circumstances. Your Client Account Executive is keeping you updated, chasing the pieces that stall, and yes, sometimes picking up the phone to push a solicitor along when a case has gone quiet.

That's our job, and it's why, as a mortgage broker in Colchester, we've built our reputation on communication as much as on the mortgages themselves.

The cases other brokers walk away from

Across our team, we cover adverse credit, complex buy-to-let, foreign nationals*, HMOs, contractors, and investors building larger portfolios, as well as specialist areas such as expatriate lending and short-term finance* through private banks. We're also expanding into lifetime mortgages, with an adviser due to be authorised shortly.

None of that happened by accident. We built the team this way because we kept meeting people who'd already been told no somewhere else, and in most cases, that no wasn't the full picture. A complicated income structure, an unusual credit history, or a property that doesn't fit a standard template isn't the end of the road. It just means the case needs someone who knows where to look.

Beyond the mortgage: charity and sustainability

We support Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity. Our directors chose it as the organisation that best aligns with what we care about, and we intend to continue contributing to it for years to come.

On sustainability, we pledge to plant a tree for every mortgage that completes. It's a small thing set against the scale of the challenge, but it means every client who completes with us leaves something behind that outlasts the transaction itself.

Recognised for it

We're proud that Joanna Everett, one of our Senior Associate Mortgage & Protection Brokers, has been named a finalist for the Adviser Rising Star category at the Women's Recognition Awards 2026. Given the number of entries, that's a genuine achievement.

And she's in good company! Natasha Hughes, our Lead Senior Client Account Executive, recently won Administrator of the Year 2026 at the Mortgage Intelligence Awards, and I myself picked up both Young Business Leader of the Year 2025 and Director of the Year 2026. As a firm, we were also named Newcomer of the Year back in 2024. It's recognition we're really proud of, and we hope it's the first of plenty more as the team keeps growing.

What working with us actually looks like

It doesn't stop at your mortgage offer either. We stay involved right through to completion, and we're on hand for whatever comes up along the way.

If you're looking for a mortgage broker in Colchester who treats every case, and every client, as one worth getting right, that's exactly what we've built Fowler Smith to be.

Frequently asked questions

What makes Fowler Smith different from other Colchester brokers?

As a mortgage broker in Colchester, we do things differently: every client works with both a dedicated Mortgage Adviser and a Client Account Executive, so you always have someone managing communication alongside someone managing your case.

Do you only handle straightforward cases?

Not at all. Our team has particular strength in adverse credit, complex buy-to-let, expatriate lending, HNW cases, and more, and we're expanding into lifetime mortgages as well.

Where is Fowler Smith based and who do you work with?

We're based in Colchester, Essex, and work with first-time buyers, home movers, landlords, investors across the South. We also work with a lot of professional introducers, including estate agents, accountants and solicitors.

If you'd like to talk through your situation, whatever it looks like, get in touch. We'd genuinely like to hear from you.