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The history of Squirrel
2021 - Thirteen years on
Squirrel's been around for 13 years now and it's been a journey, growing from just JB to over 70 strong and counting. But throughout it all, we've never lost sight of what we're all about - getting a better, fairer deal for our clients.
We have written over $8 billion of home loans and $100 million in peer-to-peer loans – helping out a lot of Kiwis in the process. Scroll down to go back through the years and see how we started.
2020
The year of the pandemic. Squirrel continued to grow, despite a year of uncertainty and turmoil we stayed true to our purpose. Growing our staff by around 50% and doubling our P2P lending, we launched some exciting new products that benefited both investors and borrowers alike including term investments into residential mortgages and bridging finance.
2016
Squirrel was the first to offer a secondary market to their P2P investors, offering them a way to sell their investments in the marketplace allowing them to get out early if they need to. Continuing to strive to offer a customer-centric service.
Squirrel Mortgages acquires Aspire Advisers, almost doubling the size of the company overnight.
2015
Squirrel Money peer-to-peer (P2P) lending launches. The first NZ P2P lender to be solely funded by Kiwi retail investors, lending to Kiwi borrowers. No institutions involved. Also the first to use a reserve fund to cover any losses meaning the investors get their monthly payments even if one of our borrowers misses a payment.
Squirrel takes all 27 employees on a trip to the Gold Coast, our first company conference. What goes on tour, stays on tour.
2008
On 29th January, John Bolton (aka JB) founded Squirrel during the midst of the GFC. Never one to shy away from a challenge, JB was sick of seeing the same old issues coming up again and again for home buyers. Nobody was in their corner, everyone was working on behalf of the seller.
JB felt it was time to even up the playing field so that's what he did with Squirrel. Squirrel is all about the buyer.
Camielle
Whanganui, New Zealand
Tim was amazing he was happy polite very friendly and super helpful and kept in touch the whole time and we knew what was going on and no worries. He went above and beyond for us, we will be back in two years!C
Stephen
Tauranga , New Zealand
Anna was an absolute star - we cannot thank her enough for her unwavering support and guidance to make a stressful experience that much easier.S
Kurt
New Zealand
Brad was able to re-fix our mortgage quickly and easily and got us a really great deal. Very happy with the process and result!K
Amelia
New Zealand
Squirrel has been easy to work with, the staff have been really clear and quick working. As well as enjoyable to work withA
Christopher
Auckland, New Zealand
Emma Wallace is an absolute superstar, she kept us informed, responded in a timely manner, and was super clear about what she needed from us and what we could expect from her. The most painless part of buying the house was dealing with SquirrelC
Svend
Christchurch, New Zealand
Thanks Eleanor for the help with our mortgage for new property down in CHCH. Eleanor was great when we secured our first home in Auckland, and had another great result when we sold up and moved to Christchurch using Squirrel again.S
David
Christchurch, New Zealand
I was referred from my partner who saw an ad for squirrel, the best advice ever. Absolutely no hassle from Jess and she also got me a better Rate!!D
Ben
Auckland, New Zealand
Brad was fantastic, really responsive and answered all of our many questions despite our situation changing regularly. Thanks for all your help!B
