Shepherd Direct is the overarching company name for our group of businesses that serve the property and mortgage industry.

We are passionate about helping customers and proud of what we do. The areas of peoples lives we help with are important and need respect, but they are rarely too complicated to be explained simply and clearly and in a style that is relaxed and empathetic.

We care that customers can always get what is right for them and that they enjoy the experience of engaging with us. We can genuinely say we are doing a great job for our customers and we are without exception here because this is a great place for us and our colleagues to work.

Our family of businesses includes:

Direct Valuations - Independent Panel Manager for Surveys and Valuations

We are proud to have been the first Valuation Panel Management business in the UK. We started in 1989 when the project team who launched First Direct identified there was a necessity to arrange mortgage valuations across the country. Over the 20 years Direct Valuations has been operating, we have been the valuation panel manager for many lenders including HSBC, Direct Line, Virgin One, Standard Life Bank, Yorkshire & Clydesdale Banks and many more. With our background and experience of carrying out volume valuation panel management, we are the clear choice for lenders looking for a highly efficient, risk-mitigating solution.

To be able to fully demonstrate our credibility and capability, we would invite any lender or mortgage intermediary to visit our national operations centre in Chilwell, Nottingham (just off junction 25 of the M1) and see for themselves how our processes enable us to deliver an exceedingly high level of service to our existing clients. For more information, please visit the Direct Valuations website.



Shepherd Surveyors - UK wide surveying services

if I were you - Financial advice, guidance and product recommendations

We started if I were you in 2009 to bring clarity back into financial services. if I were you provides impartial advice to people who want to make important decisions about their personal finances, such as getting the right mortgage, buying property, insuring their belongings or protecting themselves against loss of
income, as well as planning for the financial future.

As the exclusive Mortgage Advice provider for a number of introducer partners, including ComparetheMarket.com, the majority of customers we speak to are seeking mortgage product recommendations. From this starting point, our proposition guides the customer through each step of the house-buying process. Their designated contact can answer all of those tough questions and provide quality advice and service recommendations from both within our group and from our panel of specialist partners.

For more information, and to see all the services if I were you can provide, please visit the if I were you website.



Direct Lettings - Property letting and management across the UK

We launched Direct Lettings in June 2011 and already have over 1,500 residential properties under management. The new company superseded J&E Shepherd’s letting and property management arm, and thereby draws on over 130 years heritage and experience in the lettings sector.

The business plan is to create one of the UK’s leading property management companies, operating truly nationally and delivering customer service excellence to thousands of tenants and landlords.

Direct Lettings is a significant player in the property management sector, managing large numbers of properties throughout Scotland. The business is headquartered in Nottingham and a strong team of Property Managers also operate locally, supporting our landlords and tenants in their locality. For more information, please visit the Direct Lettings website.

moneyQuest Mortgage Brokers - Mortgage and Protection advice

We purchased moneyQuest, one of the largest on-line and telephone mortgage broking operations in the UK, in 2008. Operating from Glasgow, moneyQuest provides a simple, hassle free service offering jargon free advice and access to the whole of the UK mortgage market. moneyQuest has been operating in the mortgage broking industry for over 20 years and when we emerge from the current difficult times in the mortgage world we look forward to growing the levels of business we introduce to the lenders we work with.

Our established mortgage broking service operates 7 days a week and is a winner of the mortgage strategist broker of the year award. We are an appointed representative of Legal and General and are therefore able to market and introduce their world wide brand and products to the clients we deal with. For more information, please visit the moneyQuest Mortgage Brokers website.



The XBond Company -
Exclusive distributors of the Zurich Property Deposit Guarantee

The X Bond Company was formed in 2007 and enables people to buy off plan, new-build, residential properties in the UK and Spain more easily. Working with Zurich Bank we are offering the Zurich Property Deposit Guarantee. This is a product specifically designed to remove the need for a cash deposit at the point of exchanging contracts on a new, yet to be built, home.

We have strong connections to the house building industry, and through these links we are able to offer this product in the UK and Spain. The X Bond is a small, dedicated and highly enthusiastic team, working in the Chilwell offices, who are extremely knowledgeable about how the house buying process works, and how our product fits within that process.

For more information, please visit The XBond Company website.



We hope this introduction provides lenders and mortgage intermediaries with an insight as to how Shepherd Direct is able to provide ‘Best of Breed’ support to the property and mortgage industry. If you navigate around our website you will be introduced to the people who are involved with running Shepherd Direct.