A day in the life of a local Building Society manager

Living in Holywood with his wife Jill and three children.

Ian is a graduate of business from Queen’s University who has been working with the Progressive for 27 years.

The working day normally starts early for me - 6am and I’m up and out to take the dog for a run. I find it really helps to clear my head and focus on the day’s work ahead. Also, I am diabetic so exercise is important to me, as is eating regularly so when I get back it’s a hearty and healthy breakfast before I get ready to leave after 8am.

Each morning we begin the day with a series of teams meetings to map out the day ahead. Progressive does not have call centres, our approach is more direct and in our view more supportive of mortgage applicants.

We understand that the procedure of applying for a mortgage can appear complex and we encourage customers to come into our branches and directly engage with our staff who will take them through every step of the application, ensuring they fully understand the mortgage process. That is important to us and nearly every day I would directly engage with a variety of members or customers.

At our Lisburn branch we have a dedicated team of 10 and we very much value the relationship with our members and potential customers whether they are applying for a mortgage or considering savings such as, ISA’s, children’s accounts and bonds. My role is to oversee and manage all the transactions within the branch, working with my team as well as being an important link with Head Office and the whole branch network.

There have of course been many changes within the financial services sector in recent times, so as an industry we also work more closely with regulatory bodies such as thePRA, to ensure that standards are maintained. All of these relationships provide plenty of variety in terms of engaging with partners and stakeholders on a weekly basis, as well as the daily management of the branch and of course growing and developing the internal team.

At Progressive we care passionately about the local communities in which we are located. In my community I sit on the board of a local housing association which is providing quality homes for those not currently in a position to buy. I am able to bring advice and expertise to the housing association and also to their members who are sometimes in need. It’s rewarding to help people at local level and is a role that I fully enjoy.