Career development

I’m the General Manager of our Human Resources & Operations and I’ve been with the Yorkshire Building Society for 16 years. Having initially studied a Law degree, I didn’t come from a background in financial services and went straight into industry as the factory manager for a footwear company. After three years, I started looking for a more rewarding career that was closer to home and Yorkshire Building Society was recommended to me by a friend of the family who worked here. They knew they could offer me a great career so I applied for a position as Assistant Manager in the Mortgage Arrears department.

I joined the team in 1991 at the height of the arrears and possessions crisis, so it was a frenetic and high profile area. It was stressful but I learned fast and found it really rewarding.

However, after three years, I decided it was time for a change. I discussed this with my Manager and I was able to swap roles with the Assistant Manager in Mortgage Administration. It really broadened my mortgage knowledge and on my return from Maternity Leave I was promoted to Manager of the department. At the time we were restructuring and setting up the Member Contact Centre so it was very interesting. It's strange to think that we began with 15 people in the Member Contact Centre and now there are hundreds!

I then had a second period of Maternity Leave and returned to Mortgage Arrears as Manager. Again, there was restructuring going on and I was able to build on my knowledge in mortgages to take a role that involved managing the Arrears, Administration and Securities departments.

My next opportunity came up in Investment Services. Again, there was a lot to learn as previously I'd only been involved in mortgages and it was a large department of over 70 people. It encouraged me to look for some training and I chose a course at Henley Management School. I felt very supported in this and it was a fantastic experience. I worked with people from different industries and look back on it as an experience that made a real difference.

A completely different challenge then came up in Intermediary Services. I'd never really seen myself as a sales person and the role involved helping to run a sales team and manage our relationship with some major connections, but I decided to go for it. In for a penny, in for a pound! Not long after I moved into this new role, we moved intermediary sales from the branch and my initial team grew. There were people in the team with a background in sales but no formal training, so I arranged for sales training at all levels of the team - including the Sales Managers and myself.

As I'd been investigating the concept of setting up a subsidiary intermediary company, in April 2003 my role evolved again and I became Sales Director of Accord Mortgages. Then on 1st October 2003 I moved to become Head of Mortgages for the whole Group. This was an exciting new challenge that enabled me to contribute to the strategic direction and financial success of the organisation and broaden my experience even further.

Then finally, in February 2006, I was appointed to the General Management Team, with responsibility for the Human Resources function. I always appreciated the vital importance of our people and the difference that excellent leadership makes, so I've really enjoyed this opportunity to develop our people agenda. I’ve now even taken on the leadership of the Operations function where I spent much of my early career. A fantastic amount has changed since my early days in those departments, but many of the same people are still there - a testament to what a great place this is to work.

I think the Yorkshire Building Society look after their people. If you’ve got commitment, potential and talent, you’ll enjoy real development. Obviously, your personal development is very much down to you, but if you're motivated and want to progress, Yorkshire Building Society will work with you to help you achieve what's right for you and your career.