Mortgage Advice Bureau said total mortgage completions lifted 17% to £14.2bn in the first six months of the year from 12 months ago, adding it expects business “to continue building” in the second half of the year. Procuration fees lifted 23% to £60m in the period, protection and general insurance commission was up 14.4% to £55.8m, while client fees rose 24.3% to £29.8m. First Mortgage Direct bought a further 12% of M & R FM for £1.2m, bringing its total stake to 49%, in April. The network acquired a further 25.5% interest in Heron Financial, bringing its total stake to 74.5% of the firm’s share capital, in March. It said: “MAB delivered a strong performance in the first half of 2025, with momentum continuing beyond the period end.