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Darren Deacon Discusses Intermediary Sales at Family Building Society

Darren Deacon, head of intermediary sales at Family Building Society, has shared insights into his career and the Society’s approach to lending. Deacon highlighted the importance of manual underwriting and a flexible, common-sense approach, with a particular focus on later-life and intergenerational lending.

Deacon began his career at Barclays Bank in 1989, gaining experience in a variety of roles including cashier, personal banker, corporate relationship manager, and mortgage adviser. He later worked at Alliance & Leicester as a mortgage and unsecured credit underwriter, and at Lehman Brothers as a senior mortgage underwriter during the global financial crisis in 2008. He subsequently spent seven years as a mortgage adviser and financial services contractor.

In 2015, Deacon moved into intermediary sales as a business development manager at Market Harborough Building Society, before joining Family Building Society in 2017. He was promoted to senior account manager and became head of intermediary sales in 2022.

Deacon stated that his main role is to build a strong sales team that forms long-term, trusted relationships with brokers and other intermediaries. He emphasised the Society’s commitment to manual underwriting and the value of broker feedback, which is gathered through six-monthly surveys to help shape the Society’s proposition.

He identified several challenges faced by the sector during his career, including geopolitical and economic shocks, changing regulation, rising house prices, and interest rate volatility. More recently, he noted the need for lenders and brokers to adapt to affordability pressures, shifting borrower demographics, and increased expectations around service and responsible lending.

Deacon also expressed a desire for a more collaborative approach to later-life lending, suggesting that bringing together advisers, lenders, and products could create clearer pathways for borrowers.