Squirrel has entered an exciting new era this week, as iconic Wellington-based mortgage company, The Home Loan Shop, has officially unveiled its rebrand to Squirrel.
Founded in 1999, The Home Loan Shop was one of New Zealand’s first ever mortgage advisory businesses – and in the 25 years since, with the help of its prominent central Wellington offices, has become one of the capital’s most well-known brands.
Squirrel first announced the merger back in July 2022—with the rebrand marking the final step in the process.
Founder of The Home Loan Shop, and Squirrel's new General Manager - Wellington, Greg Scott, says it was the similarities between the two businesses that made a partnership feel like the right next step in The Home Loan Shop journey.
“What’s made this work so well is that the guys at Squirrel are just like us. The merger and rebrand is about bringing together two like-minded businesses to create something bigger, better and that lets us tap into all the advantages that come with scale.
“So, yes, we’ll have a new name and a new look from here on out, but very little else is going to change—we've been here over 20 years and we're not going anywhere. Our new and existing clients will still get the same quality of service, the same team and the same expertise that The Home Loan Shop has built its reputation on. But they’ll now benefit from the network, technology and expertise of the wider Squirrel business too,” says Scott.
Squirrel founder, John Bolton, says he admired The Home Loan Shop business long before partnership talks got underway.
“I’m based in Auckland now, but grew up and lived in Wellington for years. So, I remember seeing these guys in action back in the early days, and I loved what Greg and his team were up to even then. They’re a phenomenal group of advisers.
“When we started to look at opportunities to expand Squirrel outside of Auckland, and take the business nationwide, The Home Loan Shop team felt like the obvious people to do it with really. We’ve got such similar values, it feels a bit like kindred spirits. It’s taken several years of talks to get to this point, so it’s really cool to finally be making this official,” says Bolton.
As a result of the merger, the Squirrel team has now grown to more than 100, originating upwards of $2.5 billion in mortgages per year, and representing over 6% of the New Zealand mortgage broker market.
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For more information, please contact media@squirrel.co.nz.