Hi, I’m John. Thanks for stopping by on my homepage, a place where expert mortgage advice, financial entrepreneurship and professional football meet.
I’m a mortgage broker by trade and my work in this field has led me to found several successful businesses, including Echo Finance and LeadCrowd, while my passion for football inspired me to pursue a major side project as FIFA-accredited football agent.
All of my businesses are engineered from the ground up to respect consumer safety and strict regulatory standards.
Co-founded alongside Lee Trett in 2012, Echo Finance is a whole-of-market, directly authorised mortgage brokerage based in Mirfield, West Yorkshire. It is now home to more than 70 mortgage brokers, equity release specialists, and financial advisers nationwide.
Founded in 2017, LeadCrowd is one of the UK’s premier providers of qualified leads for UK mortgage brokers, IFAs, and other advisers in the financial sector and beyond. The platform is backed by an extensive network of organic and PPC digital properties, including our flagship consumer platform, Money Helpdesk.
The consumer-facing brand I co-founded in 2021, taking clear, jargon-free mortgage guidance straight to the people who need it - and connecting them with real advisers.
BrokerBricks is a modular, customisable tech stack built for mortgage advisers. It features the industry’s first free criteria search tool, allowing advisers to construct a personalized digital toolkit that streamlines their day-to-day operations.
Founded in 2024, xG Football Agency is an exclusive, boutique sports agency for professional footballers. Combining my background in finance, contract negotiation, and talent development, xG offers hands-on, 1-to-1 mentorship, career management, legal representation, and transfer negotiations for high-potential athletes.
Co-founded with my business partner, Lee, Xcho.ai is an intelligent lead engagement platform engineered to automate initial outreach and reactivate cold databases in real time. Harnessing advanced conversational AI, Xcho instantly reaches out to new leads via WhatsApp, adopting a fully customizable brand persona to hold natural, human-like conversations and book calls directly into your calendar of choice.
Launching in early 2027, Echo Partners is a mortgage broker network co-founded with my business partner as a natural extension of Echo Finance. Designed for individual advisers and independent brokerages looking for an alternative to direct FCA authorization, Echo Partners provides an umbrella network under which members can operate as Appointed Representatives (ARs).
Colour is borrowed from each venture's own brand. Xcho and Echo Partners have no brand yet, so they stay neutral.
Each venture makes the next one work harder.
Qualified client enquiries, at volume, through PPC and organic sites like Money Helpdesk.
Over 70 whole-of-market advisers turn those enquiries into regulated advice.
Gives every adviser - inside Echo and out - the tech stack to process the case.
FAQs
Whether in financial services, lead generation, or professional football representation, all of my ventures are rooted in collaboration, high standards, and mutual growth. I am always open to connecting with likeminded entrepreneurs, financial professionals, sports organisations, and ambitious athletes.