» Click here for the original article

This week Lloyds Banking Group revealed it is to shut down all of its Cheltenham & Gloucester branches – but it will continue to offer C&G mortgages through mortgage advisers.

The bank is set to close all of its 164 C&G stores by November, preferring to have just Halifax and Lloyds TSB on the high street. This might be bad news for all those who like to traipse up and down the high street for a mortgage, but it's business for usual through mortgage advisers.

Louise Cuming, head of mortgages at moneysupermarket.com says: "C&G is the intermediary facing mortgage arm of Lloyds, so the loss of branches should not affect its ability to promote mortgages. The group seems to have been re-focusing on its other brands with many of its recent mortgage products having been launched under the Lloyds and Halifax names. However, the bank will continue to offer mortgages via intermediaries under the C&G brand so in many ways it will be business as usual."

This proves the importance of mortgage advisers. Only last month, Santander revealed it was going to be scrapping both Abbey and Alliance & Leicester – but not for mortgage advisers. The biggest mortgage lenders in the country know how important mortgage advisers are, that's why they make sure to keep offering the best mortgages through them.

So if you want to be sure to be able to get hold of ALL the mortgages in the UK, talk to a mortgage adviser. They can search through each mortgage lender, through all their mortgages and find a deal that fits just right for you.

SOURCE: Lloyds Banking Group, moneysupermarket.com, 09/06/09

To keep up with the latest news and comments on the mortgage market please visit the Mortgage Broker Blog.