2022-04-25
As many of you may or may not know, on Saturday the 23rd of April, SortRefer celebrated its 13th year in business.
Throughout April, we have celebrated in various ways. We have given prizes to our loyal customers in our "Lucky for Some" campaign, looked back to 2009 and where we were, and finally, we have come together to discuss the 13 years that have passed and how much we have grown as a business.
About SortRefer –
SortRefer was formally launched in April 2009. The concept of SortRefer was created between our CEO, Kevin Tunnicliffe, Andy Sadler and other ex-brokers who were frustrated at the lack of reliable conveyancing sources. Over the 13 years we have been in business, our small company has grown. We now have Sort Group, consisting of Sort Legal (Conveyancing), Sort Move (Estate Agency resources), and SortRefer for Mortgage Intermediaries.
Comment from Andy Sadler –
This week we also caught up with Andrew Sadler, Business Manager and one of the original founders of SortRefer, to discuss the SortRefer journey so far and what he was going through in 2009. Here are his thoughts.
“It was a challenging time in 2009. The mortgage crash had happened, lender BDM's were being made redundant, and mortgage advisers were struggling for income, so Kev decided to go with his idea to generate another income stream, not just for us but introducers nationwide, and SortRefer was born, with 4 of us sharing duties.
Richard had just lost his job with the Bank of Ireland, so he joined us with a lot of hot contacts in the East Midlands, and although it was a hard slog with no income, no website, paying referrals out via cheque, we started to gain some traction and numbers gradually increased.
When we look back now at the position we are in with the number of instructions a day, a top-class panel of suppliers, many employees, and our law firm Sort Legal, there is a great sense of pride that we have come so far.
A couple of memories from the early days would be our first Xmas party, playing Wii at a local pub on a big screen, eating fish and chips, and having a few pints and a great time.
Also attending our first awards evening in London, travelling down in a minibus, having a few drinks, arriving back home in the early hours, and still being in for work for 9 am.”
What a fantastic achievement and success SortRefer has been, and we still have much more room for growth and development. This year, we have many exciting things happening at SortRefer, including a Re-Brand!
We will, of course, keep you all updated and bring you along for the incredible journey ahead.
We'd also like to take this opportunity to say thank you. Thank you to all of our staff who work extremely hard to keep our wheels in motion, our loyal customers, some of who have now used us for years; we thank you for all of your efforts and for continuing to instruct through SortRefer. We'd also like to thank our new customers, suppliers and all of those who come to speak to us at events, nominate us for awards and so on.
We wouldn't be where we are today without you!
Throw Back!
Last week, as part of our celebration and just for fun, we took a look at what our staff were doing in 2009. Here are some comments from our team. To view our throwback photographs, head over to our LinkedIn page – #throwback
Amelia Clark - Marketing "In 2009, I was in year seven at secondary school and went through the dark eyeliner/ dark hair phase. I think I got my first phone (LG) this year, so this is the only photo I can find of myself from that year."
Jessica Butler - Marketing "In 2009, I was leaving secondary school. I was so excited to get out of education and explore the world; I was also sad to be leaving my friends; I loved school. I remember this weekend clearly. I went to shell island to celebrate leaving school; it was such a brilliant weekend with my friends, good memories."
Ben Anderton - Senior Developer “I was finishing up my last year of Uni, spending too much time going out and not enough time writing my dissertation or working on my final year project.”
Wesley Davies - Business Development Manager "I lived in Capetown in 2009. If I remember correctly, the photo was taken after we went surfing; we were towed back in by the Coast Guard jet skis because a Great White shark was circling us."
Graham Le Bas - Head of Broker Proposition "My wife (Lucy) and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary. We went to Dublin and had a lovely time, but it wasn’t like Jamaica, where we got married. Work-wise, I was driving around the country Debt collecting for CHL Mortgages; we were not long into the global credit crunch. I visited some very unsavoury places and people. Other than working hard, keeping my head down and trying to enjoy life."
Emma Brown - Head of Marketing “In 2009, I was 20 years old and graduated with my Foundation Degree in Events Management. Unfortunately, days before my Graduation, I developed an awful tooth infection and had to practice smiling so you couldn’t see that my face was swollen in the pictures!”
Ruth Shearer - Telephone Business Development Manager "2009 was when I had my 18th birthday party and met my partner Dan. I was into the Twilight books."
Simon Parish - Business Development Manager "In 2009, I worked as a mortgage broker for Countrywide. My life revolved around my family, and I have two sons. Sam was three then, and my other son Max would have been six months old."
If you'd like to learn more about SortRefer, you can do so via our website or check out our Social Media, where we provide regular updates.
