Pro-footballer sets up mortgage brokerage

Northern premier league player, Nathan Blissett, has set up his own mortgage brokerage in Telford as part of his plans to transition away from professional football.

While Blissett, a nephew of former England player Luther Blissett, is continuing his football career with Stafford Rangers, he will also take the helm of Dwello Mortgages as founder and principal mortgage adviser.

Dwello offers mortgage and protection advice across residential, buy-to-let and remortgage products.

Supported by a team of experienced non-executive directors, Dwello plans to eventually expand across the country.

“As a team we aren’t afraid of long hours, hard work and challenging the market - every day literally is a new day in the mortgage world,” Blissett said.

“We all live in Shropshire and surrounding areas, with many of the team working on national and international projects in the finance industry, so Telford was the obvious choice to launch and base our HQ here on our home turf.”

Dwello’s headquarters are located in St James’ House on Central Park in Telford.

Blissett has played for several clubs from childhood after following in his uncle’s footsteps and said Telford as a place is “very close to his heart” having seen how welcoming and passionate the community is through his football career in the county.

“Telford has a fantastic and dynamic business community and an ever-growing population. Our offering means we can really help and guide people locally with mortgages, right at a time when some will need it most,” Blissett said.

Blissett added that with rising interest rates, it is a confusing and ever-changing market and as a result people can sometimes “bury their heads”. 

“They are often scaremongered and then make the wrong decisions or no decisions,” Blissett said. 

He added: “Dwello is here to be that trusted guide in personal finance - we will ensure the process is easy to understand and smooth for our clients and most importantly we will get the best mortgage deal for them.”

Second careerists

A move into financial advice has become a popular second career choice for a number of sports players.

Many recognise it as a stable, reliable and potentially lucrative path post-retirement from professional sports.

Last summer, former professional rugby player Dave Lewis told FTAdviser that it was a series of coincidences that led him to become a financial planner with Timothy James & Partners after being introduced to the idea by a representative from the Rugby Players Association. 

For Lewis, it was seeing a number of his rugby colleagues have to retire early due to injury that cemented the choice for him.