Who We Are
Mortgage Brain has led the way in UK mortgage technology for 40 years, connecting sourcing, criteria, affordability, CRM and submissions into one seamless ecosystem.
- Trusted by brokers
- Backed by lenders
- Built for the industry
Leadership Team
Zahid Bilgrami
Chief Executive Officer
Prior to joining Mortgage Brain, Zahid served as CEO of Defaqto, where he led a private equity-backed management buyout and successfully delivered the subsequent sale and integration of the business into Fintel. Earlier in his career, he held roles in business consulting at Andersen and in Group Strategy and M&A at Balfour Beatty.
A qualified ACA, Zahid also holds an MBA with Distinction from London Business School.
Alastair Brown
Chief Financial Officer
Alastair is an experienced Chief Financial Officer and likes to take a hands-on approach, heading up finance, legal, and HR functions. He was previously Chief Financial Officer for Defaqto, and Group Financial Controller for Glotel plc. Alastair is a qualified Chartered Accountant, having graduated from St Andrews University.
Cloë Atkinson
Chief Operating Officer
Previously Cloë established, developed, and launched a FinTech start-up (Mortgage Engine) to market in the UK mortgage industry which created an API platform connecting major retail lenders’ mortgage application systems to distributors. She has a customer-focused and agile product development ethos. She thrives on shaping the company’s IT strategic direction, and building relationships with lenders and intermediaries across the mortgage industry.
Neil Wyatt
Chief Commercial Officer
Neil has over 25 years of industry experience and has been with Mortgage Brain for the past 6 years, leading the customer-facing teams across Sales, Marketing, and Operations. He previously held roles across mortgage lending and distribution and was instrumental in the growth of Platform Home Loans (Co-operative Bank plc) between 2006–2019, transforming mortgage operations and processing teams. As Head of Sales from 2015 he delivered sales growth from £340m to over £5bn and reduced average processing times by more than 10 days.
Innovation in action
Delivered the first digital Full Mortgage Application for Halifax
Reimagined Submissions Brain, powering the future of digital mortgage applications
Launched Mortgage Brain Hub, the industry’s first fully integrated, single-login platform
Made Sourcing Brain 10x faster with a completely refreshed user experience
Published the mortgage industry’s first AI Charter for responsible AI adoption
Introduced CRM Brain, a true SaaS CRM built for brokers
Achieved ISO 27001 accreditation for security and trust
Exceptional customer experience with world-class NPS scores
Generated £11.5m revenue, reinvesting £4.6m back into innovation and growth”
Our vision
Our vision is to reimagine mortgage distribution, creating a connected ecosystem that brings certainty to borrowers earlier in their journey.
Trusted by 15,000+ daily users, we’re driven by our values: better together, driving change, and doing the right thing. We deliver true SaaS technology through an integrated suite for mortgage sourcing, submissions, and CRM.
Jointly owned by Barclays, Lloyds Bank, Nationwide, NatWest, and Santander, together we’re building the future of the mortgage market.
Our values
Better together
Togetherness, collaboration, and teamwork make a real difference. It’s how we do business whether it’s with colleagues, customers, partners, or the whole mortgage community. We unite a diverse range of perspectives, people, and ideas for better customer outcomes.
Driving change
We don’t stand still. Nor do we create change for the sake of change. We lead the way with creative thinking and innovation because we love a challenge and the determination and agility that requires. To achieve our goals, we work smarter and faster, pushing our own boundaries and focusing on incremental positive improvement.
Do the right thing
Our existence is to the benefit of society. Maintaining integrity is vital. As a company and as individuals, we are honest and accountable in all we do. We foster trust through transparency, build strength with open communication, and cultivate inclusion by championing one another.
Why choose us?
Our numbers speak volumes
Make a real difference
We’re looking for special people like you. Imagine this. The huge sense of achievement when your skills have been an essential part of a team that has created a better, more efficient way of working for time-poor mortgage intermediaries.
Every day poses a new challenge. That’s what makes it exciting, never boring. And you’ll be surrounded by like-minded people who enjoy a diverse and inclusive work culture, where we show each other respect.
We live by our values: Better Together, Positive Change, and doing The Right Thing. We reward our people with competitive salaries and benefits package. And when the time is right, we enjoy ourselves and let our hair down with fun social activities.
Our Group History
1986
Humble beginnings
In 1986, Mortgage Brain was developed for the wife of the founder, who was a broker, and the first sourcing system for advisers in the UK mortgage market was born.
2001
A business odyssey
As Mortgage Brain grew, a consortium of six large lenders recognised the potential of the rising technology business and decided to acquire it.
2003
An electronic breakthrough
MTE (Mortgage Trading Exchange) became the largest single delivery method for placing mortgages in the industry. Since its launch, over 2 million transactions have been processed via the platform.
2004
The key years
The Key (a CRM and back-office system) was founded and then acquired by Mortgage Brain, which became the most widely used Client Relationship Management system for advisers.
2014
New beginnings
Sourcing Brain (formerly Mortgage Brain Anywhere) an online and multi-device mortgage sourcing system is developed to meet the growing demand from mortgage advisers.
2016
AE3 Media
AE3 Media is acquired by Mortgage Brain. The combination of the two businesses enables the enhancement of mortgage distribution.
2019
Criteria sourcing
The acquisition of Criteria Hub (now Criteria Brain) enabled advisers to match the criteria of lenders to the needs of clients quickly and easily.
2020
Affordability sourcing
Affordability Hub (now Affordability Brain) launched, allowing brokers to gain results from numerous lenders’ affordability calculators in less than a minute.
2021
New vision
New Mortgage Brain Executive Board formed with a vision to reimagine mortgage distribution.
2022
& beyond
Mortgage Engine acquired, creating new industry plumbing ensuring lenders can connect to multiple distributors and aggregators, and allowing distributors greater efficiencies to integrate with lenders.
2025
An all-in-one cloud-based solution for mortgage professionals
We launched the Mortgage Brain Hub – one central platform connecting our sourcing, criteria, affordability, submissions, and CRM modules.
Industry Recognition
2026
Winner of Best Technology Provider of the Year | Financial Reporter Awards 2026.
2026
Winner | Best Innovation in B2B | Financial Services Forum Awards
2026
Highly commended | Most Innovative CRM Project | Financial Services Forum Awards
2026
Highly Commended | Mortgage Technology Provider of the Year | The Mortgage Awards
2026
Shortlisted for Technology Provider of the Year | MoneyAge Awards
2026
Shortlisted for Marketing Campaign of the Year (AI Charter) | MoneyAge Awards
Frequently asked questions
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Loved by mortgage professionals
Hear directly from our customers using our latest tech to work smarter, move faster, and deliver better outcomes every day.
"With the rollout of Mortgage Brain’s new technology now gaining real momentum across our network, our members are already benefiting from powerful tools that support the way brokers really work. The platform has been shaped through genuine collaboration, ensuring it reflects the needs of our firms and their clients. With a planned migration to CRM Brain, we’re confident this partnership will continue to deliver the modern, integrated technology our 2,500 members expect."
"Onboarding onto Mortgage Brain Hub has been a genuinely collaborative journey built around shared goals and a clear focus on how technology can genuinely support our advisers day to day. The bespoke training and ongoing support have been critical in helping our team understand not just how to use the platform, but how to get the most value from it. The willingness on both sides to invest time, listen, and adapt has made a real difference, and we are confident that Mortgage Brain Hub will play a central role in supporting our advisers and their clients."
"From the outset, Mortgage Brain demonstrated a genuine commitment to partnership, working closely with us to understand our business and ensure we transitioned to the Mortgage Brain Hub at the right time, when its capabilities fully matched our requirements. Their carefully planned onboarding and training programme supported our advisers every step of the way, enabling a smooth and confident adoption of the platform. As a result, the Hub now forms a core part of our technology strategy, and we’re excited about its future development and long-term potential."
"Having researched and tested other well-known Mortgage and Protection platforms, we opted for CRM Brain, and we are very glad we did. While other systems gave us the basics and promised that they would go on to develop those parts that we considered missing (“but we are not sure when”), CRM Brain already has the features that the others are still developing. We had been nervous about moving onto a new platform, but Katie and the team provided excellent training and are always there if we have questions. They also listen to our suggestions and are quick to integrate new ideas if it will benefit all users. All in all, we cannot recommend CRM Brain and the people behind it enough, and it is definitely worth considering if you are a Mortgage and Protection brokerage looking for the best platform to support your business."
"Our experience onboarding to the new CRM Brain software was exceptional, thanks to Niki Cooke and Mortgage Brain for their guidance and support. The live webinar training sessions have been a game-changer. It’s allowed us to get up to speed quickly with the different system features, with real-time answers to our questions and step-by-step walkthroughs that made the transition smooth and efficient. The software is incredibly intuitive, but the personal touch during training sets it apart. We’re already seeing improvements in how we manage customer relationships, and we couldn’t be happier with the support we received!"