The last of the market's once great packager collectives finally closes its doors

1 August 2011 | By Robert Thickett

The packager distribution group was first formed in 2006 by 12 firms who were all former members of rival packager group the Professional Mortgage Packagers Alliance.

The split followed allegations at the time that two of the four founding directors used the PMPA to further their own businesses to the detriment of other members.

Despite half of its membership jumping ship to the AMPD at the end of 2005 the PMPA did carry on. But it was also one of the first packager distribution groups to crumble in 2008 as the credit crunch took its toll and the packager market was decimated.

This was followed in 2009 by the collapse of the market’s biggest packager collective, the Regulatory Association of Mortgage Packagers.

The AMPD battled on and its director Liz Campion claims that since its inception it saw completions in excess of over £8bn.

However in the press release explaining the reasons behind its closure today Campion admitted that the AMPD model only worked on a mass-market basis and was not right for a smaller industry.

She says: “In recent times the AMPD has struggled to add significant value to its members, so even though we are all obviously very sad that this day has arrived, it is the right decision to close the doors and allow the shareholders to focus more closely on their individual businesses.”

If you enjoyed this article, sign up here to receive daily email updates from Mortgage Strategy and Follow @mortgagestrat