My story in mortgages started way back in 2002 – but not in the way you might expect.

After leaving school, I worked at McDonald’s for three years. I’d been privately educated, but truth be told, I hated school. I tried sixth form for about a month before telling my parents it wasn’t for me. Their response was simple: “That’s fine – but if you’re leaving, you need to go to college and you need to get a job.”

So, at 17, I enrolled at the local college to study an Advanced GNVQ in Business Studies while working full-time at McDonald’s and playing football at the college’s academy, which was partnered with Blackpool FC.

By 19, I’d worked my way up to a manager at McDonald’s and landed a new job at a local estate agent, Duncan Raistrick – who, believe it or not, is still in business today.

I was due to start on a Monday… but the Friday before, my dad made a phone call that would change everything. Without telling me, he rang the estate agent and said I wouldn’t be starting. When I got home that night, he broke the news: “You’re not going to work at the estate agents – you’re coming to work for me.”

At that point, I didn’t even know what a mortgage was, never mind how to sell one. I had no interest at all, but he insisted I’d thank him later (I eventually did).

So, I started from the very bottom as a mortgage administrator – no experience, no clue, and no idea what I’d signed up for. But it didn’t take long before I started finding ways to modernise the business. Back then, I introduced things like… email. (Yes, seriously!) I streamlined systems, improved processes, and learned the trade inside out.

Within a couple of years, I’d passed all my exams, been signed off as competent, and started advising as a mortgage broker. My dad – whether I liked to admit it or not – became one of the best mentors I could ever have asked for.

Fast forward to today, and after years of working both together and separately, things have come full circle. We’re now back under one roof, doing what we both love – helping people get mortgages who often thought they never could.

For me, GoMortgage was born out of a simple belief: mortgages should be accessible to everyone. For too long, the industry has been filled with jargon, suits, and people pretending to be something they’re not. That’s not me.

I’m Chris Days – the lad who started in McDonald’s, swears too much, calls a spade a spade, and will run through brick walls for his clients. I built GoMortgage to be real, relatable, and relentless – because that’s who I am, and that’s what our clients deserve.