L&G acquired Home Finance in 2015 and has a talented team of around 180 people. My role involves managing the business and team, developing the strategy, and ensuring we constantly evolve our products and processes to offer the best service to our customers and advisers.

What has been your biggest challenge in the role to date, and your biggest achievement?

I actually started just before Covid-19, so it was a baptism of fire. As well as getting up to speed with a new role in a new area, I was quickly having to get the business set up to work remotely and ensure our customer-facing teams could function effectively from home, as well as tackle the broader challenges the mortgage industry has faced.

The biggest achievement is the fact that my team has clearly remained open for business throughout the pandemic. We adapted well to remote working and our customer service has been excellent thanks to the processes we put in place. We have been able to offer digital solutions like desktop valuations and remote legal advice, meaning we have been there for our customers, advisers and employees at a time when this was really important.

We also moved our whole adviser support programme online immediately and developed the flagship ‘In conversation with…’ webinar series, bringing experts, both internal and external, direct to advisers’ front rooms to support them with topical and timely information.

What do you believe are the main lessons to be taken from the fallout of lockdown?

Having partners and supply chains that are reliable, agile and forward thinking. What came to the fore was the importance of the services advisers offer our customers, beyond product and paperwork; also the key role of valuers in keeping the market moving and of lawyers in completing a mortgage. It highlighted the fact we need everyone in the customer journey pulling in the same direction.

Lockdown has also encouraged the market to become more digitally minded and offer customers a choice. Different people want to deal with their lender in different ways, so this has forced the industry to be more flexible.

What is the best part of your job?

Hearing great feedback and how much we have changed someone’s life is the really rewarding part.

We recently helped an elderly woman with dementia whose husband had died of Covid. She had lived in the same home with her husband for 33 years and didn’t want to leave, so her daughter came to us because her mum now needed around-the-clock care. We were able to guide her through the process and help her fund the shortfall in her mum’s care costs. Such stories make the job so worthwhile.

As a woman working in the finance industry, do you feel there is equality in the sector?

Lots of work is being done to improve female representation, but there is still a long way to go. I am proud of Legal & General’s role in pushing for equality in pay and representation, also for BAME people and the LGBT+ community.

If you had not chosen this career path, what other roles would you have enjoyed?

I am a lawyer by background and always liked the business side of being an in-house lawyer. In a dream world, I would be a personal trainer – if I could exercise all day, every day and get paid for it, I would!

If you were chancellor for a day, what would you prioritise?

I don’t envy Rishi Sunak; he has a huge job and very difficult decisions. Given we are now in a recession, my priority would be getting the economy moving again.

Do you have any secret talents?

I do a pretty good back bend, and pride myself on my multi-tasking abilities.

Who is your all-time hero and why?

I hugely admire New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern. She was the youngest female head of government and balances compassion with an inner steel.

What is the best advice you have received?

Grab every opportunity you get, and remember that businesses are all about the people.

COMPANY PROFILE

Year established: 2015

Headcount: 180

Address: Chadwick House, Warwick Rd, Solihull B91 2AA

Tel: 0333 004 8444

Company synopsis: