What locations and how many advisers and broker firms do you cover in your role?
I’m based in Glasgow City centre and West of Scotland, covering 125 companies and 350 advisers in my role.
How do you establish and maintain a good relationship with brokers?
I focus on getting to know the broker and understanding their business. Its important to be transparent with brokers to gain their trust and respect.
What personal skill is most valuable in doing your job?
Having strong organisational skills and knowledge of the products and systems that we offer is really important.
What personal talent would you most like to improve on?
No matter how good you are at something, you can always get better, and it’s important to me that I keep building on my existing skills to become the best BDM for the brokers with whom I work.
What’s the best bit of career-related advice you’ve ever been given?
I always listen to feedback and strive to continually improve. Tenacity and persistence help you to develop, and that’s really important to me
What is the most interesting property deal you’ve been involved in?
All cases are complex and nothing is ever straightforward. The ability to take an enquiry and find a solution when the customer feels nothing is possible, is amazing. From short term self-employment to adverse credit scenarios and unusual constructions – I have seen it all over the years, so I’m really not phased.
If you were head of the FCA for the day, what would you change about regulation in the mortgage industry?
Wow that’s a huge job. To answer simply however, the whole process needs to be a lot easier for customers, brokers and lenders.
What was your motivation for choosing business development as a career?
I love the variety of the role and the ability to help customers move into their dream home. I enjoy all the challenges of the role, which are different from one day to another. Most-importantly however I love building relationships, which is definitely the best part of the job.
If you could do any other job in the property sector, what would it be and why?
I quite enjoyed being shown around some very nice new build homes on a site visit recently, so maybe I could do something in the new build sector.
What did you want to be growing up?
When you’re young, your mind changes every day. I think I wanted to be anything from a nurse, a film star, a pop star, a teacher and then eventually I decided I quite liked financial services and here I am.
If you could have one superpower, what would it be?
Time is always of the essence in this role, so I really wish that I could fly to appointments.
And finally, what’s the strangest question you’ve ever been asked?
As a parent of twins, I have been asked on several occasions if they are identical. Given that they are a girl and a boy, the answer is definitely no.
