A mortgage franchise has been rebranded after a successful merge with another national mortgage company.
As of yesterday, The Mortgage Gallery is now known as
Smartline Personal Mortgage Advisers.
The name change is the final phase of the merger between The Mortgage Gallery and Smartline, which happened in April 2012 to create a 270-plus strong national franchise group which settles more than $5 billion annually in loans.
Smartline managing director Chris Acret is pleased to have The Mortgage Gallery’s 35 franchises now operating under the Smartline brand.
The Mortgage Gallery had a very strong, well-respected name and reputation, but Smartline now feels it is important to bring the group under the one national banner, Acret said.
“It was appropriate to keep The Mortgage Gallery identity in WA for the first two years, to allow the merger to be bedded down and for the two businesses to be fully integrated.
“That has been successfully achieved and it was felt that the time was now right to have all our advisers in WA operating under the Smartline brand.”
Acret gave tribute to The Mortgage Gallery founder John Bignell as an industry pioneer and said his leadership is evident in the strong team culture and the professional quality of the group franchise team.
For existing The Mortgage Gallery clients it will be business as usual, with the only noticeable change being the Smartline name and corporate identity, Acret said.
“The Mortgage Gallery brand will not be forgotten – it will always be part of our group’s heritage.
“This is a people business and because of the nature of the personal service we provide, our advisers are very much the face of the company.”
Before merging with The Mortgage Gallery, Smartline merged with WA-based Mortgage Force in 2009.
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