Which locations and how many advisers and broker firms do you cover in your role at Afin Bank?
I lead coverage for the entire South of the UK, supporting and overseeing advisers across the region. I also have national responsibility for managing and developing our networks and club partner relationships to drive performance engagement and strategic growth across the UK.
What personal talent/skill is most valuable in doing your job?
My key strength is stakeholder engagement and influencing, developing strong, trusted relationships with advisers and partners that enable me to align priorities, drive performance and deliver results across both regional and national networks.
What’s the hardest part of your job?
Saying no. I naturally want to help every broker place their case and find a solution, but I’ve learned that being clear and decisive is essential. Providing an honest answer quickly, even when it is a no, is far better than creating false hope or delaying a decision.
What do you love most about your job?
Working within specialist mortgages and being able to find a solution for borrowers with complex or challenging cases. Helping brokers navigate tricky scenarios and ultimately delivering a positive outcome is incredibly rewarding.
Are there any (popular) misconceptions about your job/role?
A common misconception about my role is that because it’s field-based and involves working remotely and meeting brokers, it’s sometimes seen as being less structured or more relaxed. In reality, it’s highly demanding, with constant travel, relationship management and performance responsibilities. Since Covid and the shift to home working, there is thankfully a better understanding of how focused and busy remote client-facing roles actually are.
What has been the biggest lesson you’ve learned in your career?
Clarity is vital. The people who consistently succeed are the ones who ask the right questions, break down problems, explain ideas or topics so anyone can understand them, and importantly, execute consistently.
Tell us about your trickiest case – what happened and how did you resolve the problem(s)?
One of my more complex cases involved a broker based in Singapore, where the transaction had been ongoing for two years. The deal experienced significant delays and became protracted during the legal stage, to the point where progress had effectively stalled and stakeholders had begun to lose confidence in its completion.
Recognising the importance of maintaining momentum, I advocated for the case to proceed on the basis of obtaining an updated valuation report and searches.
Given the time zone differences, I made myself available during early morning and weekends to maintain consistent communication with the broker, ensuring queries were addressed promptly and the deal moved forward to completion.
If you could do any other job in the property sector, what would it be and why?
I’d choose a valuer. I’m naturally curious about properties and would enjoy being out on-site, seeing different homes and forming my own assessments rather than just reviewing the report afterwards.
What did you want to be growing up?
I think most young boys dream of being a footballer and playing for Millwall. Okay, maybe not everyone wants to play for Millwall.
If you could have one superpower, what would it be?
Contradictive answer – either to go into the future or the ability to go back in time. Ultimately, the ability to time travel.
What do you do to unwind?
From being absolutely petrified of dogs, I now absolutely love them. I now find myself unwinding by taking my poochon for walks while listening to various music. Great way to clear the mind first and last thing of a day.
