We sat down with Steve McKernan, founder of Castle Mortgages, to ask him about his business, the local community and life in Kenilworth.

A former director of the Kenilworth Festival, an active member of the Kenilworth Lido Recovery Group, and a Covid-19 volunteer Steve is very involved in the local community.

He has lived in Kenilworth since the early 1990s and reflected on how the town is going through a great deal of change currently.

"Kenilworth is an expanding community," says Steve, "which will of course be good for our business here, as well as for the town.

"There is a great community spirit here and you see that with the station with people doing the gardens and certainly in Talisman Square.

"I like the fact that we know lots of people here but you're not in each other's pockets."

Steve has nearly 30 years of mortgage experience to his name, and takes pride in his company helping people achieve their goals, rather than just selling them a product.

Steve himself started working as a financial advisor in the early 1990's, originally working in pensions and investments.

He then slowly started to move into mortgages and has been working in the industry since.

However, it was whilst he worked for a firm over the Abbey Club in Kenilworth that he came up with the name for his own business.

Looking across Abbey Fields during the autumn he had the "unimaginative" inspiration to name his business Castle Mortgages which was officially formed in 2017.

Despite the nature of his work, however, Steve does not describe himself as a salesman.

"I like helping people and meeting people in their location," he says. "It is getting to know people and making connections.

"I don't see myself as a product seller or a salesman, it is all about helping people achieve their goals.

"I don't sell, I advise, I make sure the people are looked after. My philosophy is to do to others as you'd want them to treat you.

"It is about building relationships because people buy off people, they don't buy from corporates."

Kenilworth Nub News is delighted to announce that Castle Mortgages has become our latest sponsor, enabling our community website to continue to provide the latest hyper-local news, sport and features for the town.

The company's partnership with Nub News comes as the first step in an expansion project which will see Castle Mortgages' team increase in size to six advisors as they move to bigger premises.

Karl Hancock, Nub News founder and chief executive officer, said: "We are delighted to be partnering with such a well-regarded local business in Castle Mortgages.

"Its values of supporting the community are echoed around Nub News, and its support and involvement will let us continue providing our vital community news service."