Newbury Business Today

Thursday, November 4, 2021 37

Newbury Weekly News

All you need to know about the Bank of Mum and Dad Newbury Building Society’s advice on much-used method of buying a home for under-35s

THE Global Telecom Awards, or GLOTEL, has named Lifecycle Software as a finalist in the BSS/OSS Transformation Excellence category. A partnership between Newbury-based Lifecycle and SMARTY and its impact on the telecom market was one of the key points for the nomina- tion. The companies, products and services shortlisted for a Global Telecoms Award rec- ognise innovation and excel- lence from the firms involved in advancing and transform- ing the telecoms industry. Lifecycle Software chief executive Mo Firouzabadian said: “Lifecycle’s data-driv- en approach has enabled 99.5 per cent of transactions to be fully automated, allowing our customers to focus on their customers. “We are very honoured to be shortlisted for this pres- tigious award. Our work with SMARTY has made a differ- ence for hundreds of thou- sands of customers during the pandemic with a digital-first customer experience and be- ing spotlighted as a finalist makes us very proud.” The UK’s telecom scene has been shaken in the last few years with the introduction of disruptive players. Lifecycle Software, a global online charging system, bill- ing and business support sys- tem solution provider – with offices in Sterling Industrial Estate, Kings Court – was key to the debut of major new suc- cess SMARTY, delivering an honest, simple mobile service. The partnership between Athena in November THE West Berks Athena Network has four topics for its November meetings, the last monthly meetings of the year. Helen Bantock from Kite Web Design will highlight the benefits of having a website that works with your social media at the Newbury West group on Thursday, Novem- ber 11. On Friday, November 12, Tanya Gaffon from Distink- tiv encourages others to en- gage in smarter marketing through her talk titled ‘How not to have a marketing one- night stand’ at the Hunger- ford meeting. Keeping the online theme, Fiona Jones from Number- work Services will be sharing her advice on tips to Newbury East members on preparing for the ‘Tax Digital era and how to manage your business finances more effectively’. The last meeting of No- vember is on the 18th when the Newbury Central group will have a session with Suze Mannion of Style by Suze, who will be sharing her handy tips on how to stay ‘on trend’ with an autumn/win- ter wardrobe without spend- ing a fortune. Athena meetings take place online monthly from noon to 2pm. Visitor places can be booked in advance by email- ing caroline.snowdon@thea- thenanetwork.com

for a first-time buyer. Commonly known as BO- MAD for short, this structure is normally used in the context of a property purchase. It involves a house buyer’s parent, grandparent or guard- ian providing financial assis- tance towards a deposit or to financially support their mort- gage application. There are commonly three categories that fall under- neath Bank of Mum and Dad: 1. Gifted deposit; 2. Borrow- ing on a family home; 3. Joint mortgage – sole ownership. 1. Gifted deposit Gifted deposit is when a family member can gift a sum of money which will help to- wards their child’s or grand- child’s property purchase. Without a deposit a house hunter is unable to buy a property; therefore, having a deposit will enable you to buy a home and having a larger de- posit could potentially lower the interest rate of the mort- gage. 2. Borrowing on the family home Providing the parent or

FIVE things you should know about… the Bank of Mum and Dad (BOMAD), by Luke Pummell, direct sales manager at Newbury Build- ing Society. The definition of Bank of Mum and Dad The Bank of Mum and Dad (and now also Granny and Grandad) has become more popular than ever. In 2020, gifts from parents, grandparents, friends and relatives were behind more than half of house purchases among the under-35s, accord- ing to research by Legal & General – and this seems set to continue due to rising house prices, slow wage growth and the deposit amount required Grandparents are rapidly becoming more prominent within the lending community “

The parent would be joint- ly named on the mortgage; however the ownership of the property would remain in the name of the child. This means stamp duty on a second home is not payable. 4. Do not forget Grandma and Grandad It is not just down to the Bank of Mum and Dad any- more. In 2019, 32 per cent of 18- to 34-year-olds received financial help from their grandparents to get a foot on the ladder, ac- cording to research by Trus- sle. Whether as an early inher- itance or simply looking to invest spare funds, grandpar- ents are rapidly becoming more prominent within the lending community. If you would like to talk to a qualified mortgage advis- er about helping a relative to purchase their first property, contact us to discuss your op- tions. n Research by Trussle https:// trussle.com/mortgages/blog/ whats-fuelling-the-bank-of- granny-and-grandad

Luke Pummell

grandparent owns their home, equity can be released from their property by raising a mortgage. By doing so, parents can unlock cash on their property to gift their children or grand- children a deposit. 3. Joint mortgage – sole ownership

When applying for a stand- ard mortgage, parents can help their children borrow more by standing as a joint mortgage borrower. This could potentially in- crease the size of a mortgage they are able to achieve and enable them to get on to the property ladder.

Lifecycle shortlisted for top telecom award

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Lifecycle chief executive Mo Firouzabadian Lifecycle and SMARTY ex- hibits 4.2 on Trustpilot and enjoyed 154 per cent growth in H1 2021.

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out of automation capabilities proved essential for SMARTY to manage the business im- pacts of the pandemic. SMARTY does not need to have a large IT organisation to deliver a variety of different customer acquisition strate- gies and a very high level of service, because it self-serves all strategies. More than 99.5 per cent of the transactions are fully automated. The GLOTEL awards win- ners will be announced dur- ing an online ceremony on November 23.

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The success was developed on SMARTY’s customer-cen- tric strategies to address and build rapport with customers’ needs. Lifecycle Software uses a microservices approach to its platform to minimise time to market and invests in product evolution to increase automa- tion and efficiency from tech- nical and operational levels. The improvement and roll-

*When studied as part of an apprenticeship.