Cowboys beware

Bolton-born Michael Ward started his working life as a computer analyst but after just a brief stint in the sector, he joined the financial services industry as a trainee mortgage consultant with John Charcol. Three years and a few jobs later, he set up his own mortgage company, Ward Mortgages, and has never looked back. "I set up a mortgage practice to start with and then about seven months later set up a pensions business, Direct Pension Services. The idea was that it would act as a mechanism for additional business after the mortgage sale, so that once the client had moved in and sett...