Case study · Finance and fintech · Ireland · 2023 to 2025
A new broker, a trusted national voice.
Mortgage Navigators opened in September 2023 as a new name in a crowded broker market. Bannerton made its managing director, Margaret Barrett, a regular voice on mortgages in The Irish Times, the Business Post and on Newstalk, and from November 2024 to December 2025 she was in the national media about twice a month.
pieces of national coverage from November 2024 to December 2025, about two a month
Business Post bylines under Margaret Barrett's own name
national broadcasters, RTE Radio 1, Newstalk and Virgin Media One
The coverage, in numbers
30 pieces, in fourteen months.
bylined columns in the Business Post.
The challenge
A new name in a crowded market
A new broker has no track record for journalists to lean on, and Irish mortgage coverage already had its familiar voices. Mortgage Navigators, the mortgage arm of the Contracting PLUS group, needed to be known quickly by first time buyers, movers, switchers and the contractors and self employed buyers it specialises in.
What we did
Real questions, plain answers
We built Margaret's profile on what she does best, answering the real questions people bring to a broker in plain language. Divorce and the family home, pregnancy, solo buyers, trading up, and how a contractor gets a mortgage. We secured her own Business Post column, A Question of Money, alongside bylines on switching and refused applications. She became a regular in the Ask the Expert slot on Newstalk's Pat Kenny Show, joined Claire Byrne on RTE Radio 1, and her comment ran in The Irish Times' Your Money pages and the Irish Independent.
People don't read about mortgages, they read about their own lives.
The results
Twice a month, in the national media.
Oct 2023
Minister for Finance Michael McGrath officially opens Mortgage Navigators.
Nov 2024
A Business Post byline on refused mortgage applications, and a mortgage Q and A on RTE Radio 1's Today with Claire Byrne, followed by a second appearance in December.
Jan 2025
The self employed contractor's guide to getting a mortgage in the Business Post, and Ask the Expert on Newstalk's Pat Kenny Show.
Feb 2025
The on screen mortgage adviser on Virgin Media One's Help Me Buy A Home, and an RTE Brainstorm explainer on why banks say yes or no.
May to Oct 2025
Five A Question of Money columns in the Business Post, from divorce and the family home to trading up.
Nov 2025
A panel at the Business Post National Property Summit.
Working with Bannerton PR was instrumental in the successful launch of our new business. From day one, Sharon demonstrated a deep understanding of our brand, our goals, and the competitive landscape that we were operating in. She developed a strategic launch plan that not only generated immediate buzz but also positioned us as a credible, trusted brand on a national scale. Thanks to her expertise, media relationships, and consistent messaging over the past 3 years, we have achieved nationwide brand recognition far faster than we ever had anticipated. Margaret Barrett, Managing Director, Mortgage Navigators
In pictures
Where Mortgage Navigators was heard
