Sesame Bankhall Group (SBG) has acquired a strategic stake in New Homes Mortgage Services (NHMS) LLP.

NHMS is the largest appointed representative mortgage and protection firm in SBG’s Sesame Network, of which it has been a member for almost 30 years.

The deal sees SBG acquire a significant stake in the 40-adviser strong business, with the option to increase the shareholding in the future.

This is the first advice firm investment since SBG launched its new business growth strategy under CEO Richard Harrison earlier this year.

The Cannock-based NHMS is a mortgage and protection advisory business specialising in the new build market.

It has 40 advisers and 80 employees and looks after the needs of 45,000 clients, with over £760m of mortgage lending and £1.4m of protection premiums annually.

While Richard Harrison will join the NHMS Board, the management team will remain unchanged, as will the roles and responsibilities of employees.

The news follows the recent announcement of a new strategic partnership between SBG’s PMS Mortgage Club and Bankhall businesses and intermediary platform Acre to jointly invest and create bespoke technology solutions for the Directly Authorised (DA) adviser market.

Harrison said: “The investment in New Homes Mortgage Services is a significant step in our own journey and a clear indication of our ambitious business strategy and commitment to grow and develop our adviser network and the wider Group, through both organic growth and investment in like-minded adviser businesses.

NHMS managing director, Stewart Bartle, added: “We have ambitious plans to grow the business, and this was a natural next step in our journey to enable us to do that.

“From day one, it was clear that Sesame Bankhall Group’s own adviser-led growth strategy and vision matched ours, making them the perfect partner to support our long-term aim to become the UK’s largest mortgage broker, helping more people to achieve their home ownership goals.”

Sesame Bankhall Group is wholly owned by Aviva and provides support services to financial advisers across the UK. It is currently home to over 10,000 advisers.

SAINSBURY’S has issued a major update regarding the closure of more Argos stores.

The supermarket chain, which owns Argos, plans to shut nine more standalone locations in the upcoming financial year. 

1

This move is part of an ongoing strategy to transition the brand’s presence from traditional high street stores to integrated concessions within Sainsbury’s supermarkets.

It comes as Sainsbury’s interim results released yesterday showed sales at Argos slipped by 5% in the 28 weeks to September 14.

Sainsbury’s general merchandise and clothing sales also declined by 1.5% during this period.

Argos’ owner added: “For the full financial year we expect to open 13 Argos stores within Sainsbury’s and close nine standalone stores.”

Sainsbury’s has not yet disclosed the locations of the next round of Argos store closures.

The company also stated that it has not yet informed employees at the stores that will be affected.

A spokesperson for Argos told The Sun: “The transformation of our Argos store and distribution network has been progressing at pace for several years now, improving availability, convenience and service for customers.”

“As part of this, we are continuing to open new Argos stores and collection points in many of our Sainsbury’s supermarkets, enabling customers to purchase thousands of technology, home and toy products from Argos while picking up their groceries.”

Argos has closed dozens of stores over the last two years.

Since March 2023, Sainsbury’s has reduced the number of standalone Argos stores by 72, down to 213 from 385.

However, it has increased the number of Argos stores within Sainsbury’s supermarkets by 22 – from 424 to 446.

The most recent closure occurred on October 17, when the Argos store in Plymouth city centre permanently shut its doors.

Before this, the Argos store in Greenock, Inverclyde, unexpectedly ceased operations on September 14.

Last year all 34 Argos stores in the Republic of Ireland were shut down.

The company blamed the closure of the stores on the investment required to develop and modernise the Irish part of its business as “not viable”.

HISTORY OF ARGOS

FOUNDED in 1972 by Richard Tompkins, Argos revolutionised the British retail landscape with its unique catalogue-based shopping model.

The first store opened in Canterbury, Kent and quickly expanded, becoming a household name.

Advertisement

Customers could browse the extensive Argos catalogue, fill out a purchase slip, and collect their items from the in-store collection point.

The retailer was sold to British American Tobacco Industries in 1979 for £32million before being demerged and listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1990.

In April 1998, the company was acquired by GUS plc.

Throughout the decades, Argos adapted to changing consumer habits, embracing e-commerce early on and launching its website in 1999.

Advertisement

This allowed customers to reserve items online for in-store pick-up, blending the convenience of digital shopping with the immediacy of physical retail.

By 2006, Argos became part of the Home Retail Group which was demerged from its parent GUS plc.

At the time, Home Retail Group also owned Homebase and Habitat.

In 2016, Argos, along with its Home Retail Group sister brand Habitat, was acquired by Sainsbury’s.

Advertisement

Since the acquisition, the Argos brand has been integrated into Sainsbury’s operations, significantly expanding its presence through dedicated concessions within Sainsbury’s supermarkets across the UK.

However, due to declining sales, Sainsbury’s discontinued Argos’ iconic printed catalogue in 2020.

Despite these setbacks, Argos has remained true to its roots, offering a wide range of products from toys and electronics to furniture and jewellery.

SALES UP AT SAINSBURY’S

Despite a decline in sales for both Argos and Sainsbury’s general merchandise and clothing, grocery sales surged by 5% in the 28 weeks leading up to September 14.

The retailer said it was boosted by strong Taste the Difference premium range sales and Nectar membership pricing.

Simon Roberts, chief executive of Sainsbury’s, said: “Our food business is going from strength to strength and we’re making the biggest market share gains in the industry, with continued strong volume growth.

“More and more customers are coming to us for their big food shop, recognising our winning combination of value, quality and service.

“As we head into the festive season, there is real energy and excitement at Sainsbury’s and Argos, and we’re expecting another strong performance.”

Sainsbury’s total underlying pre-tax profit was up 4.7% to £356million.

The supermarket chain is also expected to open 13 new supermarkets in the coming months.

Ten of these new stores, scheduled to open soon, were acquired from DIY retailer Homebase, while the remaining three were purchased from Co-op Food.

However, the boss of the supermarket giant also warned that shoppers will face higher food prices after the Budget’s tax raid on employers.

PRICES TO RISE

Last week, Rachel Reeves hiked the employer rate of National Insurance (NI) from 13.8% to 15%.

She also announced a reduction to the threshold at which businesses start paying NI contributions from £9,100 to £5,000.

It’s estimated that the move will raise £25billion – the equivalent of around £800 per employee for each firm.

Businesses, particularly within the hospitality sector, have warned that the increased financial burden could lead to higher operating costs, which may ultimately be passed on to consumers through price rises.

Mr Roberts said the NI hike would cost Sainsbury’s an extra £140million.

His comments come after Wetherspoons and Marks & Spencer warned of a combined £160million hit from the Chancellor’s decision to increase employer contributions.

Mr Roberts said: “It will lead to inflation and it’s pretty clear it’s going to come pretty fast.

“Given the low margins of the industry, there isn’t the capacity to absorb this level of un­expected cost inflation.”

Asda has also warned about rising prices.

The Entertainer has scrapped plans to open two new stores due to the extra costs associated with the NIC hike.

On Tuesday, the chief executive of Primark’s parent company, Associated British Foods, said he felt “the weight of tax rises” in the Budget was falling on the UK high street.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) also said last week that the Treasury’s sharp increase in spending would lead to higher inflation in the coming months.

Despite official figures from October showing that inflation fell to 1.7%, its lowest level since April 2021, the OBR expects inflation to average 2.5% this year and 2.6% next year.

After many years of the regulatory equivalent of a Gaelic shrug towards the protection market, the Financial Conduct Authority has announced a forthcoming study into the sector taking in many areas, perhaps most notably, the three Cs: commission, competition and charging.

Understandably, this has set many boardrooms a flutter, as the market’s biggest and best advisers, distributors and providers begin to consider the impact of the study and its findings on their business model.

There will be some who are fearful. Any action from the regulator tends to cause worry. Some are thankful, having been calling for an increase in engagement in protection from the regulator for some time.

There are always processes that can be done better, to deliver better products, better services and better outcomes to customers

There are others, like me, who are hopeful. Hopeful that this study will once and for all shine the light on protection that I, and many others like me, think it deserves.

Name a perfectly functioning market and I’ll prepare to be astounded. Nowhere across financial services, retail and beyond will you find a market perfectly in sync with its customers or internal market stakeholders.

There are always processes that can be done better, to deliver better products, better services and better outcomes to customers.

The fast-food market could easily reduce salt, sugar and fat in its foods and maintain its revenues and standing. Indeed, the sugar tax on soft drinks has proven it possible. But it is yet far from common practice.

The UK is one of – if not the – most price-competitive market in the world. We offer cover at a low price – some might say too low

Closer to home, the general insurance  market could, despite regulatory intervention in recent years, ensure all its products deliver value for money on an ongoing basis.

Protection, too, has aspects that could be changed to improve the market and the outcomes it delivers customers. Products could be simpler to understand and deploy to underserved markets. Cover could be more in keeping with modern changing lives – able to flex according to circumstances. Processes at application and claim could be improved from those which, today, are often still legacy; often manual and sometimes opaque.

However, there is masses to celebrate, too. The UK is one of – if not the – most price-competitive market in the world. We offer cover at a low price – some might say too low. We are also continually seeing providers entering new channels and new product lines – helping drive more choice.

This is the growth we need. This is the growth a financially resilient society needs

We have come a long way on process simplicity, too. Yes, we have more to do but insurers, distributors and advisers now have better, more streamlined processes to serve their protection clients – from sourcing the right product at the right premium to accessing GP helplines from the growing set of value-added benefits, now included as standard within most policies.

This, in itself, should be celebrated – providers have made the important step to offer more holistic, ‘always-on’ policies capable of delivering value even when their core purpose (to cover a claim) isn’t required.

Let’s not lose sight of these facts and continue to share them, both together and in public. A connected market is a better market. A positive discourse is better than a negative discourse. Let’s celebrate the things we do well, in private and in public.

As we begin to predict what the study will focus on and what the outcomes for the market will be, I remain hopeful. Ours is a market which performs an important role in society, a role we should ensure we and those who engage with it always appreciate.

Like most markets, there are things we could do better. Many of these things would help us, not necessarily to do more for our customers but to do the same for more customers. This is the growth we need. This is the growth a financially resilient society needs.

Let’s celebrate protection.

Paul Yates is product strategy director at iPipeline

Firms seeking to operate commercial pensions dashboards services (PDS) have no timescale when this will happen despite the Financial Conduct Authority publishing rules they must follow when designing and operating them.

FCA set out rules for pensions dashboards service firms in a policy statement published yesterday (7 Nov.)

They include expectations that firms will act “fairly, honestly and professionally in consumers’ best interests and deliver good consumer outcomes consistent with the Consumer Duty”.

And that the service firms offer “must be fit for purpose and help consumers make effective choices and act in their own interests”.

The FCA stressed that it wants PDS to be platforms where consumers can “confidently and positively engage with their pensions and be safely supported in retirement planning.”

It added that the rules, which were considered following consultations with stakeholders, are “proportionate” for the first iteration of commercial pensions dashboards.

However, FCA failed to give a timescale when firms will be able to operate pensions dashboards services.

Rachel Vahey, head of public policy at AJ Bell, said the lack of timescale is a “huge let down for customers”.

She said: “This statement is helpful but leaves the pensions industry with only a set of rules and no definitive timescale for when commercial dashboards will become a reality. Setting a clear date for commercial dashboards would allow providers to start planning in earnest. The development of dashboards has already been a bumpy ride with numerous stops and starts, and changes in who is responsible for getting it over the starting line.”

Earlier this year, the government changed the law to bring the new activity of operating a pension dashboard service within the FCA’s regulatory remit.

This legislative change means that a firm wishing to operate a PDS must become FCA authorised, get permission to undertake the new regulated activity and meet its requirements for firms undertaking this activity.

Last month Emma Reynolds, the pensions minister, confirmed that initially people will only be able to access their information by going through the Pensions Dashboard run by the government’s Money and Pension Service (MaPS).