My alarm goes off at…
…7.30am when I’m working from home, but usually the dogs wake me much earlier than that!
I cannot leave the house without…..
…pre-Covid, it would have to be my iPad given my commute into Manchester allows me time to watch various programmes on Netflix, (Last Dance starring Michael Jordan has to be my recent favourite)
Post-Covid, I now only leave the house with our English Bulldogs, Chester and Mabel, who are getting fed up with walks twice a day.
I travel to work…
…mainly by train, which is brilliant when you’ve reserved a seat, but I have spent many journeys back to Birmingham standing next to the toilet cubicle. Currently though I walk 10 metres across the landing to my office.
The main purpose of my job is…
… managing the distribution and marketing teams who support the residential side of Aldermore’s mortgage business. This means I lead, develop and drive the strategic direction of the intermediary business built via broker engagement and key account relationships.
My typical day…
…starts with a spin class on the Peloton bike which I invested in before lockdown. Then I’m at my desk with a coffee by 8.15 am. I try to limit meetings to 10 per day, but I have daily check-ins to review product and operational performance and attend credit, operating, risk and change committees.
It’s crucial for us to maintain and grow our relationships so I regularly have meetings with our key accounts and brokers, attend panel and broker events, which is less of a calendar-management challenge currently with no travel time needed.
A common misconception about my job…
… is that all decisions are made by me. In reality the whole team play their part and having developed the culture over the last 18 months I’m starting to see more colleagues putting their hands up to take on greater responsibility and learn through the decisions they make.
My favourite work memory is…
… the way my team mobilised to meet the challenges posed by Covid. Several staff members needed to be retrained to support payment holiday requests.
Within three weeks, we had not only set up the whole bank to work from home but had also cleared the backlog and had started to answer same day requests from customers wanting a payment holiday.
While this was going on we continued to provide new business products and kept broker enquiries lines open, so they were supported. So proud of everyone for simply doing the right thing for our customers and brokers that again reconfirms the culture and behaviours within Aldermore.
A perk of the job is…
…working with colleagues who are so committed to the brand and connected in our pursuit of fulfilling the hopes and dreams of our customers. Having had 30 enjoyable years with Royal Bank of Scotland I knew I was ready for a new challenge and I feel blessed to love what I do. I also feel privileged to work alongside senior leaders who give you the licence to operate but are there to support when required.
To unwind after work…
…Football dominates a lot of my downtime, I am a long suffering West Bromwich Albion fan, season ticket holder for 40 years and attend games with my Dad, son Seth and daughter Anna, plus I manage my son’s under 13s football team which is becoming more challenging the older they get.
As a family we also like to eat out and spend time playing old fashioned board games when I can get my son and step daughter Scarlett off the Xbox.
