Connect for Intermediaries will hold its first academy for trainee mortgage brokers this week after announcing the scheme at the end of last year.
Connect's academy is designed to bring new advisers into the specialist mortgage industry and is open to brokers returning to the industry, accountants, estate or letting agents and anyone experienced in property who want to make the move into advice.
The academy is also open to existing members of Connect's network who want to grow their businesses by taking on trainees or other new staff.
The academy will help potential advisers to develop their mortgage knowledge, covering core compliance training including money laundering, data protection and treating customers fairly.
Training and mentoring will continue after the course and all candidates will have access to the Connect for Intermediaries team to help them grow and develop.
The first course has eight people on it, with another seven courses planned throughout the year.
Liz Syms, chief executive of Connect for Intermediaries, said: "We desperately need to bring new advisers into the mortgage market, and there is an ongoing need to continually raise standards in the specialist mortgage market.
"Even for people with a mortgage qualification, there is an incredible amount a mortgage adviser needs to learn about researching the specialist market and providing advice.
"The Connect for Intermediaries academy successfully achieves all of those things, raising standards, introducing new blood into the industry and helping our existing adviser members to grow their own businesses."
Connect is the latest of several large intermediary businesses to launch training programmes to attract fresh blood to the industry.
In October Intrinsic announced it would fund an adviser training programme, which would be provided by Quilter Financial Adviser School.
emma.hughes@ft.com
