VARIETY IS THE SPICE

If ever a single day can encapsulate the fantastic variety in my job then it has to be today.Let me explain. Having been away from my desk since Wednesday morning I spent a couple of hours first thing today sifting my post and responding to various correspondence and emails, before heading to Keele University for an annual meeting of the Nominations Committee that I am privileged to sit on. I really enjoy ricocheting into the world of academia and the people at Keele are great. I returned to my office at lunchtime to compete in the putting and boules competitions being organised by our Customer Services team to raise funds for Comic Relief. I made sure that I was victorious at putting by playing until I got the hang of the tricky contours of the green, ie. the bobbly carpet. Clutching my box of Roses as a hard earned prize I then spent 2 hours in a meeting with some of my senior management team discussing how we should alter our savings rates and SVR mortgages following last weeks 0.5% cut in bank base rate. We have become accustomed to agonising over the delicate balancing of the needs of savers and borrowers, challenging ourselves to be always transparently fair and still remain commercially astute with the interests of the Society at the core of every decision we make. I am always hugely impressed by how hard we strive to do the best we can for our customers and today was no different. Next up is a review of the week with my Finance Director and a first read of some proposals on a strategic paper which we plan to take to Board on 25th March. It has been a varied day for sure.