The Intermediary – November 2025 - Flipbook - Page 98
Meet
eet The Broker
Just Mortgages
Marvin Onumonu speaks with Lee Daffern, mortgage and protection
adviser at Just Mortgages Self Employed
What made you
become a broker?
Like many, being a broker wasn’t
always my ambition. I went to
university and got a degree in
journalism and wanted to be on the
plane with the England cricket team.
That was what I wanted, but it never
really materialised. After getting
my degree, I worked in a couple of
different roles before getting a job at
Co-op Bank in customer services.
I moved up the ladder, becoming
a mortgage adviser in 2002 and
taking on further roles, before taking
redundancy and going to work in
compliance. I then got a job as a
business development manager
(BDM) for an insurance company,
but missed being at the coalface
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The Intermediary | November 2025
dealing with people. As I already
had the qualifications from my time
with Co-op, I applied for a role with
Countrywide as an adviser and was
there for nine years. That was 11
years ago now. So like many, it was
not something that I always wanted
to do, I just fell into it and realised I
enjoyed it and was good at it. I enjoy
helping people and seeing that look
on their face when they realise they
can buy something.
After nine years, I had reached
a point where I wanted greater
autonomy and independence in how
I work with clients, and running my
own business was the logical step to
take, creating an environment where
I can march to the beat of my own
drum. That was the primary reason
for then going self-employed with
Just Mortgages, and I’m loving it.
What might people
like to know about you
outside of work?
I’ve got three loves in my life. I have
my family – my wife and my two sons
– but I also love outdoor cooking
and barbequing. I love cooking with
fire, and my wife knows that if she
ever loses me during the food shop,
she’ll find me in the meat section or
stuck talking to the butcher. Third is
Orlando – my happy place is Disney
World, it’s what I work for.
If I’m not paying off a holiday there,
I’m busy planning one. We’ve just
come back from two weeks there
this summer, and while we were
there we were already planning next
time. I love watching online vlogs of
