'I always thought advice did not need to be delivered in a suit’

Unlike the more typical adviser's suited and booted shopfront, this boutique brokerage is often mistaken for a tattoo or massage parlour, according to its founder Graham Taylor.

Sporting an orange mohican - a hairdo which often gets him recognised in local supermarkets and food van queues as ‘the mortgage guy’ - Taylor told FTAdviser: “I’ve always had this thought that advice didn’t need to be delivered in a suit. It felt a bit staged, and that’s not me.”

Taylor set up Hudson Rose in February 2018, after spending stints of his advice career at London and Country, HSBC and Countrywide’s high-net-worth arm, Capital Private Finance.

In May 2020, he signed a lease on a shop in Nailsworth, at the height of the global pandemic. Originally, the firm had operated digitally out of a small back-office, now it has opened an additional office in Cirencester. 

Marketing and operations manager Jessica Mitchell said being initially situated on a busy street near a roundabout where plenty of cars drive past had paid off for the brokerage. 

So much so that the team, now a group of three advisers and one trainee, has since replicated the same model in Cirencester.

“We repeated in Cirencester what was an accident in Nailsworth,” said Taylor.

Mitchell, said the shop window - decked out with neon signs reading ‘Your mortgage, our problem’ - has acted as an effective advertisement for its services as well as a point of contact for prospective clients.

“We like colour. We like art on our walls. We drink beer on Fridays,” said Graham. “We’re seen as approachable. People come in and sit down on our sofa because they feel comfortable.”

The founder continued: “If you’re more relaxed, then people are more open to talk to you. No-one is going to give all the information they should if they’re not comfortable.”

Ultimately, it’s not about how we look. It’s about how we act and how we control our service level.Graham Taylor

Upon filling out one of its lead forms, Hudson Rose asks clients to pick a song. “It’s a nice thing to talk to someone about alongside income brackets and kids.”

Variety of clients

Upon first glance, many in the industry assume Hudson Rose’s prime customer base consists solely of first-time buyers.

Quite to the contrary, clients’ ages span anywhere from 25 to 72, with average loans totalling £300,000, and reaching as much as £6m.

In the last two months, an established player Taylor can’t name has referred a handful of customers to the adviser's doors. “They see us as an alternative option,” he said. 

The firm’s clientele include a number of civil servants, which is unsurprising considering GCHQ’s head office sits in Cheltenham, a half an hour drive from Cirencester.

The founder reckons when clients come through the firm’s doors they don’t expect to be handheld, which means when they are, the service is all the more appealing.

Whilst a big part of Taylor’s business is about getting noticed, the firm is keen not to let that overshadow the quality of its advice service.

“Ultimately, it’s not about how we look,” he said. “It’s about how we act and how we control our service level,” he explained.

The firm offers advice on first charge, residential and buy-to-let mortgages, as well as on life insurance, critical illness and income protection policies.

Currently it refers out any healthcare and investment-related enquiries to trusted third party partners, but Taylor is open to these services coming under Hudson Rose’s umbrella at some point. “The name gives us scope for more services.”

If clients go ahead with the decision in principle the firm has advised on, then it charges a £399 fee. “By this point, any client feels like they’ve had good value. Only one person has left us at this stage and gone direct.”

He also said this model allowed advisers to have a conversation with clients without thinking about the next one. “I just like chatting to people. We’ve always got to be able to chat to clients.”

Next stop, London?

Friends of Taylor’s want to help him expand the business into London. “I think this model could work in multiple locations,” he said.

The firm has already purchased a London taxi which it uses back home for marketing purposes by wrapping its brand around it.

But the biggest challenge, his co-worker Mitchell pointed out, is that the firm is especially careful in the advisers it recruits. “They’ve got to fit our work ethic,” she explained.

Rather than “churning out numbers” or “talking about volume”, as Mitchell put it, the firm remains focused on its service levels.

Whilst a beer on a Friday afternoon is encouraged, advisers are equally encouraged to go above and beyond for each client to emulate what Taylor dubbed a “hand-holding” service.

Wherever Hudson Rose goes, an eye-catching shopfront will likely follow. 

“Having offices instills confidence [in clients]. You’re dealing with a lot of money for people. It allows us to grow the business if we have a face in the high street.”

Unlike other local businesses in Nailsworth, when Hudson Rose set up shop at the height of the pandemic last year it counted as an essential service.

“We weren’t mandated to close the business like other businesses in the area,” Taylor explained.

“This saw us get involved with other independent businesses, shouting each other out on social media and promoting our services.”

Whilst Taylor has built a brand in part on his orange - or sometimes pink, and occasionally blonde - mohican, he is clear on one point: “We’re far from a joke”.

The high-net-worth specialist said the idea was to be smart, modern, alternative, and - most importantly - serious. He is, of course, still happy to go by ‘the mortgage guy’ in the burger van queue.

ruby.hinchliffe@ft.com