What locations and how many advisers and broker firms do you cover in your role?
I cover London north of the Thames, Northern Home Counties and East Anglia. I currently look after 670 brokers with 330 firms.
How have you changed the way you establish and maintain a good relationship with brokers in the pandemic?
I like to regularly check in with them and make sure that all is okay for them, and offer my support with active cases. I do my best to answer their queries as promptly as I can too.
What personal talent/skill is most valuable in doing your job?
I think that being empathic toward your team and clients is something that makes a good manager, so I always try to strive for that.
What personal talent/skill would you most like to improve on?
My knowledge is something I don’t think I can ever have enough of. I like learning as much as I can about the market because there’s always something new, or a different perspective to learn from. I like being a source of information that others can rely on whenever they have questions.
Where would you rather be stuck, in bumper-to-bumper traffic or back-to-back Zoom calls?
Zoom calls every time. Easily.
What’s the best bit of career-related advice you’ve ever been given?
I was taught to never give up, but at the same time to change the things that you can, but don’t complain about things you know you can’t change.
What was the greatest lesson you learned during lockdown?
It may be a little cheesy, but it really brought it home for me that we are all in it together. It’s been tough for everyone.
What was the first social event you attended once restrictions were eased?
I went down my local pub for a pint – there’s nothing like a good local and ours is really decent.
What was your motivation for choosing business development as a career?
I wanted to offer my 30 year sales experience within the financial services sector to help others in the industry who are going through similar things to what I’ve been through as their careers progress, especially the tricky bits when the job can wear on you, or when we all get a little stuck or have that keen ambition to do more.
If you could do any other job in the property sector, what would it be and why?
I would go into being a BDM for a lender so I can make sure that brokers get more choice.
What did you want to be growing up?
Believe it or not I really wanted to be a marine biologist.
What’s your favourite face mask design/pattern to wear?
Our snazzy SortRefer face masks.
And finally, what’s the strangest question you’ve ever been asked?
I was once at an interview and they asked me “What was your relationship like with your parents?” – I felt like I was suddenly in a therapist’s office.
