One to One – John Cupis, managing director, Dynamo

What is the main purpose of your role as managing director at Dynamo? 

To lead the Dynamo team, set the strategy and deliver outstanding results for all of our key stakeholders.

The team is responsible for mortgage and insurance advice across the whole specialist advice sector, from complex residential and portfolio landlords to complex health and property insurance, to bridging and commercial property.

How you respond to any change defines your ability to navigate life and take advantage of the world we live in

We manage a mortgage club and a specialist packaging service for many thousands of directly authorised brokers.

In your two years in the position, what has been your biggest challenge and can you name a highlight?

That’s a tricky one…. I would say there have been a number of challenges that in total make one big challenge: managing constant change.

The past two years have seen the remnants of Covid, the post-Covid housing bubble, lack of capacity from all parts of the mortgage chain, the war in Ukraine, supply chain shortages and cost-of-living issues, the disastrous Mini-Budget and the Consumer Duty, to name just a few!

Sadly, the conveyancing process is broken. Market reports suggest 25% to 30% of housing chains fail

During this turbulent period the team and I have been transforming the business to put it on a long-term stable footing to serve our customers both now and in the future. This involves high-quality specialist advice through a range of initiatives, including a new IT platform, new CRM system and new telephony system.

The highlight for me has been the openness and collaboration of the fantastic people at Dynamo, to deal with change and deliver real improvements in the way we work with advisers and customers.

If you could change anything about the mortgage market, what would it be?

Sadly, the conveyancing process is broken. Market reports suggest 25% to 30% of housing chains fail, costing millions of pounds in wasted fees, time and stress, and heartache for customers.

Anybody who has tried recently will be able to tell you a stress story about their experience. While there are many reasons for failed chains beyond conveyancing, it remains at the heart of the solution.

I have honed and mastered my skills in the art of long-term patience

There is much work going on behind the scenes with various groups to improve things, but we also need government intervention and minimum standards on timescales. Everybody knows it’s currently stressful, and the fear itself is holding back would-be buyers and sellers.

A better, quicker process would encourage a healthy market, increase volumes and create less waste.

If you didn’t work in the mortgage industry, what other career would appeal to you?

I’ve always enjoyed listening to music and I think I would have liked being able to make a living out of playing a musical instrument.

We need government intervention and minimum standards on timescales

Anybody who has heard me sing or heard my attempts at trying to read music would know that mortgages was probably a safer bet.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

Change is constant. How you respond to any change defines your ability to navigate life and take advantage of the world we live in.

Do you have any hidden talents?

As a lifelong Spurs fan I have been able to maintain a positive attitude over many decades. As a result I have honed and mastered my skills in the art of long-term patience.

This article featured in the October 2023 edition of MS.

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