Every month, we share some highlights of what’s been happening in and around KBA.
This month, on a sunny Friday in late September, the KBA Financial team came together for a fun team day. And, having passed another professional marketing exam, Emma Bell was beaming when we arrived at the office with cake and asked for all the details.
We also celebrated no fewer than four work anniversaries:
🎉 Cheryl Clarke has been among the friendly faces at our Nantwich YBS agency for seven splendid years.
🎉 Mandy Mycock has been doing a brilliant job of looking after customers at our Nantwich YBS agency for five fabulous years.
🎉 Emily Bartley – our brilliant paraplanner – has been supporting our team of financial planners for four happy years.
🎉 Andy Sumner has been serving customers at our Southport YBS agency with a smile for four fun years.
But first, Customer Consultant & Protection Administrator Nicola Rhodes’ baby nephew Lennox sadly passed away when he was just 15 months old. Lennox was born with SMARD1 (spinal muscular atrophy with respiratory distress type 1), an extremely rare, inherited neuromuscular disorder.
On Sunday 18 October, Lennox’s father, Marcus, ran the Abingdon Marathon to raise money for the department at John Radcliffe Hospital that provided outstanding care, compassion, and support throughout the difficult time.
If you’d like to show your support for Nicola and her family, and help other families who may face similar challenges, please visit the JustGiving page to make a donation – no matter how small the amount, it would be greatly appreciated.
It was fabulous to get almost everyone together for our Annual Team Day
Organising team events is rarely easy when we have to coordinate office opening hours for our financial planning business alongside our Yorkshire Building Society agencies.
But we finally managed to find a date (late in September) that worked across all the different offices and departments, and closed for the day so we could spend some proper quality time together.
In the morning, we revisited our culture and values, helped by Dave and Sue – two of our fabulous clients – who joined us via Zoom to share how KBA has changed their lives. The perfect way to remind us exactly why we do what we do.
Still smiling, we then took to the streets of Manchester, racing across the city in small teams to solve clues, complete challenges, and reach checkpoints. The winning “Pub Team” completed the race in just 2 hours and 14 minutes, leaving the rest of us in their dust! 🏆
If you were in Manchester on the same day – we were the ones looking a bit stumped and laughing a lot. 🏃♀️
Emma Bell notches up another excellent marketing exam – with merit!
Emma Bell, our superb Events & Marketing Executive, proved her brilliance again this month, taking and passing another exam (with merit) as she works towards gaining the CIM Level 4 qualification.
Aware that she may not pause for breath unless forced, we poured her a cuppa, cut her a big slice of cake, and insisted that she sit down and tell us all about it – and what’s next on her radar…
How long have you been working towards this qualification, and did you have to pass other exams to reach this one?
I’ve been working towards my CIM Level 4 qualification for the past year now alongside working full-time. It’s definitely been a case of fitting studying and revision around a very busy job!
Content marketing was my third exam, so I’m now officially three exams down with just one more to go.
How are you at exams, generally?
I’ve never been good at exams! I always joke that I got intelligent later in life because exams and traditional studying definitely weren’t my strong point when I was younger.
I’m much more of a practical learner – I need to physically put something into practice for it to properly sink in, rather than just listening to someone talk about it or reading about it in a book.
So, passing three exams so far is something I’m really proud of.
What was the hardest part of preparing for the exam? And the easiest?
The hardest part is probably finding the time and getting myself into “revision mode” after a full day at work.
The easiest part is when I can relate what I’m learning back to things I actually do in my day-to-day role.
Content marketing in particular was really relevant to my job, so being able to think about how the theory applies in practice made it much easier for me to understand and remember.
How did you prepare? Do you have a revision technique?
I definitely wouldn’t call myself a natural when it comes to revision!
I learn best by doing, so I try to turn the theory into practical examples and relate it back to situations I’ve actually dealt with at work.
I also find practice questions really useful because they help me understand how the knowledge might actually be tested, rather than just trying to memorise pages of information.
How was the exam?
It was an online multiple-choice exam, so thankfully I could sit it remotely rather than having to travel somewhere. I was really nervous beforehand – I’m a self-confessed stress-overthinking perfectionist, so I wanted to perform to the best of my ability.
What will it mean for you professionally?
It’s really important to me because marketing is something I’ve built my career in and genuinely love doing.
I’ve gained so much experience through actually doing the job, but working towards a recognised CIM qualification gives me the opportunity to back that experience up with professional knowledge and a formal qualification.
I’m also finding that I can take things I’m learning and apply them directly to my role, which ultimately helps me become better at what I do.
What’s next?
With three exams down and one to go, my focus is firmly on getting that final one passed and completing my Level 4 qualification.
Being this close to the finish line definitely gives me the motivation to keep going!
Good luck, Emma! We’re rooting for you – and will be standing by with cake (and bubbles! 🥂) when you get there. ❤
A night to remember – Karen’s surprise 60th birthday 🎉
Our wonderful Karen recently celebrated her 60th birthday, and her daughters made sure it was a night she would never forget!
Keeping a surprise from Karen was never going to be easy. She had been suspecting something for months, but was convinced she was heading to a concert with one of her good friends. Little did she know that around 80 of her family, friends, and KBA colleagues were waiting to surprise her at Worsley Sports Club!
The evening brought together people from all chapters of Karen’s life, including one special friend who had travelled to celebrate with her after not seeing her for an incredible 20 years!
Despite being spread across five offices and having to make the Friday-evening dash after work, nearly the entire KBA team made it along too.
There was a beautiful birthday cake, plenty of dancing, lots of laughter, and, in true Karen fashion, plenty of brandy flowing throughout the evening!
But the highlight was undoubtedly Karen’s reaction.
A self-confessed crier, she was completely overwhelmed with emotion when she realised just how many people had come together to celebrate her. As you can see from the video, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house!
It was a lovely reminder of just how loved and appreciated Karen is by everyone around her.
Happy 60th birthday, Karen! Here’s to many more years of laughter, celebrations, and, of course, brandy. 💜