The business development team is at the heart of the relationship between advisers and Openwork. At Openwork we believe advice is personal, and the same applies to the support our team provides – we work alongside every member firm to ensure they have the tools and support they need to provide the best possible outcomes for their clients, and they are well positioned to achieve their business goals. We have access to a wealth of information, services, models and best practice, and we deploy all of this through one, joined-up team.

How did the team overcome challenges faced when the market was frozen during lockdown?

Openwork as a whole – from all the head-office operations through to our team and, of course, our advisers – responded tremendously to the challenge of lockdown, creating a highly effective remote-based model in a very short time. Providing and delivering the framework to make this happen created stability at a time of great uncertainty and was key in allowing as much business-as-usual activity to continue as possible. Openwork’s diversified business offering – from wealth, to protection, mortgages and beyond – has also been key.

One of the business development team’s key activities during this difficult phase was to reach out to all member firms – which we did through intensive call programmes and interactive virtual events – and help provide information, communicate support measures and identify actions at a local level. For the mortgage market and our advisers, clearly the initial impact was severe, and the most important thing at a time like this is to keep talking and stay creative. For us, alongside the practical support measures that Openwork implemented, it was important to reassure advisers we were there for them.

What is a common misconception about your job?

A common misconception about a ‘network’ is that it’s all about regulatory services and product access. Those are key parts, of course, but my job – like many others at Openwork – is to add value in every area possible. We want advisers in our network to feel part of a community, to encourage success and realise potential, and we want practice owners to feel we are truly working alongside them – providing the widest range of tools and support to help their businesses grow. It’s a true partnership.

What has been the biggest challenge of your career and how did you overcome it?

Many people will say that 2020 may well have been one of the biggest challenges in our careers, but outside that I have had the pleasure of holding some exciting roles at great businesses, and the biggest challenges often tend to come though driving change. At each step in my career, I’ve always been keen to find ways to improve outcomes decisively for the business and its customers.

From the perspective of your role, do you have any advice for brokers looking to diversify into other areas?

I’m a big believer in diversification in a controlled way, and recent times have been a reminder for us all about how important this is. The team here will always look to help advice businesses looking to diversify where their skills and knowledge could most readily be applied to other complementary offerings. Diversifying in a controlled and careful way can drive considerable further value in an adviser’s business, and being able to help clients take a more holistic view of their financial planning seems to me to be more important than ever.

Are you feeling optimistic for the market in 2021?

Next year will no doubt bring further changes in the financial environment and people’s outlook generally. However, coming out the other side of such a difficult and unusual time, which I believe we will, also creates brand-new opportunities. The resilience and ability to change that we’ve seen across financial services as a whole serves to reassure us all that we can, and should, continue to do even more to support people looking to access our expertise and support.