Hub Heroes…Siobhan Pritchard
Monday, January 18, 2021
With more than a decade in financial services and the ability to work through even the most complex of applications Siobhan Pritchard is one of our Hub heroes. We talk to her about the importance of having a pragmatic approach, adding value to brokers and busting a move Irish dancing…
Q. When did you join TML?
I joined the TML team in Summer last year from Santander.
Q. Who is your BDM buddy?
Anum Mahmood.
Q. Average number of calls you take in a day?
Somewhere around the 30 to 40 mark. I’m a big talker.
Q. What’s your background – how did you get to be so experienced and knowledgeable about mortgages?
I was with Santander for 10 years. I worked my way up from the admin team to the London support team as a telephone business development manager. There, things were a little more black and white when it came to lending. Whereas at The Mortgage Lender our criteria isn’t rigid.
My role is to work with brokers to understand a case, to be pragmatic and to support them through often really complex situations.
Some brokers are experienced in dealing with specialist and complicated borrowing situations others aren’t, so you need to adapt the support you provide not only for the case but also what’s going to best help the broker too.
Q. What do you love about your job?
That no call is ever the same as the last.
Q. What are the most important skills for your role and why?
You’ve got to be a good communicator, but being able to truly listen and understand a situation – no matter how confusing it might be – is really important.
Q. What’s your proudest moment so far at The Mortgage Lender?
I worked with our change team to adapt our affordability calculator so brokers could save the results as a pdf – I’m pretty proud of that.
When I speak to brokers I go through the affordability calculator with them, it’s more accurate as we’re talking through the situation, and it’s an approach that’s been well received by them.
Q. Who would you love to receive a phone call from and why?
Nicola Sturgeon. I’d like to ask her questions about the current situation with the pandemic and get her personal opinion on what’s going to happen next.
Q. Tell us something surprising about you? Do you have an unusual talent, guilty pleasure or hobby?
I’m an Irish dancer, although I think everyone knows that now. I’m obsessed with Alpaca trekking – my children, who are 12 and 8 years old, are a bit tired now of me making the excuse I’m going for them.
