…7am. Pre-Covid I would have been up at 6am but, now I am doing less travelling, I can get more sleep.

I am very lucky to be surrounded by parks where I live so, while the weather has been so glorious, it’s great to start with a 30-minute walk to get the old limbs moving.

Challenges of working from home recently have been…

…delineation of work and home life. I’ve worked from home for the best part of 15 years but in reality that would only be one day per week as I would be out meeting people.

[Lockdown] was very strange in the beginning and it was difficult to remember to leave my desk. I’m very much a people person and miss that interaction with my colleagues and my contacts. Nothing beats a good face-to-face meeting.

But on the plus side…

…apart from the 7am alarm? Sleeping in my own bed and having less travel has been a godsend, allowing me to have dinner with my family nearly every night and not in a Premier Inn, or Purple Palace as I like to call it (I have delusions of grandeur).

From a work perspective, the volume of meetings each day has increased due to lack of travel, and my virtual world is exceptionally busy.

The main purpose of my job is…

…to support our distribution partners in the later-life lending space, however they may choose to participate in the sector.

I have at my disposal the propositions provided across all three B2B brands at Key Group: Key Partnerships, more2life and Air Group.

A lot of people say ‘No two days are the same’ in their job, and this is what working at Key Group is like and one of the main reasons I love what I do – meeting with our partners to identify how we can help support them with later-life lending and building their business.

Our proposition covers all bases, from new entries to the market who need referral support (Key Partnerships) to those who write business themselves (more2life) and want ideas on how to generate leads, information on how the market is changing or views on how to support a wider range of customers.

I also work closely with our internal partners such as senior management, finance, marketing, our field teams and office sales support teams. It is imperative that our objectives and focus are aligned, so regular contact with these teams ensures success.

My typical day entails…

…a catchup with a business development director following the sun-up call to ensure that any communications are given to our intermediary partners ‘hot off the press’. This has been vital during Covid-19 because the speed of change is rapid.

Most days at the moment include several virtual workshops. This can be representing all brands or individual brands dependent on relationship. The audience can vary from exec to helpdesk. Covid-19 has definitely brought out everyone’s appetite for learning, education and sharing that knowledge with their partners.

A common misconception about my job is…

…that staying away through the week pre-Covid-19 was ‘glamorous’, and that we wined and dined constantly. The reality was more M&S bed picnic and a good book.

My favourite work memory is…

…the Christmas party. You know you’ve had a great night when the dancing shoes are off and the whole room is jumping from the first song to the last.

A perk of the job is…

…that equity release genuinely allows you to change people’s lives for the better.

To unwind after work, I…

…love to go for a walk. I’m fortunate to live only 45 minutes’ drive from the North Lakes, so I drive there and walk around the lake. Covid-19 has made me realise how important switching off actually is – and looking up!