The opportunity to lead a dynamic and growing team.

Considering the impact of the Covid crisis on household finances, we expect a significant uptick in demand for specialist lending over the long term. As such, lenders like Bluestone need to be equipped to support customers who have been financially impacted by the pandemic and who may be disenfranchised from the high-street banks.

It’s an incredibly exciting time to be leading and strengthening our sales and marketing team as we look to meet this demand and assist brokers with an increasing number of specialist cases.

What has it been like taking on a new role amid a pandemic?

In many ways it’s been positive. Keeping in touch with our external business partners has become easier with the help of tools like Zoom and Microsoft Teams. The same goes for staying connected with the wider sales and marketing team.

Being in regular contact with everyone has been key during this period and it will continue to be a core part of my role over the coming months.

How important are intermediaries to the success of the business and how do you maintain relationships with them, particularly in unprecedented times such as these?

Intermediaries are extremely important to the success and growth of Bluestone and our key focus is ensuring that we provide this community with the tools and resources they need to better support specialist clients.

Transparent communication with advisers continues to be a priority so that they are confident that Bluestone is on hand to assist them with any concerns. This could include anything from how to package a complex-credit case to how to best support clients remotely.

What will Bluestone focus on in the next 12 months?

Our main focus will be to strengthen our position as a lender dedicated to complex-credit borrowers, given the surge in demand we’re expecting from this demographic over the long term. As part of this, growing our sales and marketing team, in particular telephony support, will be paramount to help the brokers we work with become more knowledgeable about the complex-credit lending market.

Adapting to the working-from-home-and-office split and making sure this is implemented in a safe manner will also be a focus. We have found that, during the remote-working period, staff productivity has increased significantly, and many of our employees are keen to see a balance between office and remote working in the future.

What has been the best part of your job so far?

Seeing the exciting growth within the team over the past six months. I’m proud to say we have had five promotions in this team alone during this period, and internal growth is something I advocate. Most of all, it’s been great to see the new recruits hitting the ground running and providing extra support to our brokers and customers.

If you were not working in financial services, which alternative career would you choose?

Those who know me are aware that I regularly change my hairstyle or facial hair, so it would have to be a barber.

Who is your all-time hero, and why?

As an Aussie, growing up it was cricketer Ricky Ponting. I initially gravitated towards him because we shared the same birthday. He then became one of the all-time greats in world cricket, which was a bonus!

What do you do to unwind?

During the past 12 months it has been difficult to separate work and home life, but to help keep the balance I like to stay active. Strava has become one of my most-used apps!

A nice glass of red and a romcom also do the trick.

What is the best advice you have received?

If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

If you were chancellor for a day, what would be your priorities?

To improve access to and knowledge of finance for consumers with complex credit.