Every month, we share some highlights of what’s been happening in and around KBA.
This month, we’ve opened a new office in Manchester city centre, Cheryl Clarke is a step closer to gaining a Diploma from the Chartered Insurance Institute, and Wumni David and Kerry Lee Marais both celebrate their one-year work anniversaries.
Before we get stuck in, although Elysia Walsh is currently on maternity leave, looking after baby Luke, we must congratulate Elysia on her work anniversary, too. Eight years and still going strong, we’re looking forward to her return to work in the not too distant future.
We have opened a new office in Manchester City Centre
We are incredibly proud to announce that as part of our goal to help people live better lives, including our clients, our team members, and local communities, we have opened a brand new financial planning office in Spinningfields, Manchester.
This will allow us to provide the best financial planning, lifestyle financial planning, estate planning and cashflow forecasting to our clients in lovely surroundings in the city centre. It will also enable us to work more closely with the professional connections we have in the city centre to bring more services to our clients.
Our goal is to constantly improve our client experience and this city centre location will provide a wonderful solution for our clients from South Manchester and other areas, particularly for those who live further from our local offices.
We are in the process of getting set up with everything the office needs and recruiting more team members to be based there as well. Our Financial Planning Consultants, Sarah Hogan and Joanne Hobson are currently based there for part of the week, as well as Maura Baines, one of our Technical Paraplanners.
This is really exciting development for KBA, and we look forward to bringing our clients in to the new office for their forward planning meetings and also meeting our professional connections for a coffee, drink, or lunch in due course.
You can find us in Landmark, 2nd Floor, 3 Hardman Square, Spinningfields, Manchester, M3 3EB. Please feel free to get in touch and say hello!
Cheryl Clarke has passed her R03 financial exam
A massive shout out to Cheryl Clarke, our Nantwich Team Leader, who has been studying hard for her R03 exam. She recently learned that she passed the exam, which focused on Personal Taxation. With only one more Chartered Insurance Institute exam to go, Cheryl is close to gaining her Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning.
Here’s what Cheryl had to say about her recent success.
Can you tell us a bit about what your day-to-day role involves?
I deal with customers, helping them reach their hopes and dreams as well as helping them achieve financial resilience, through our range of products and services. I also organise the team in line with our customer requirements. I nurture and train the team in our processes and procedures, ensuring they are the best they can be and offer our customers a bespoke and extraordinary service.
How long have you been working towards this qualification, and did you have to pass other exams to reach this one?
I have been working on this qualification for nearly three years. I passed my first exam R01 in August 2020, and have since attained R02, R03, R04 and R05. Thankfully, I now have only the R06 exam to go.
How are you at exams, generally?
I have to work hard – I’m not lucky enough to be able to wing it. But I believe that if you put in the work and the hours, you will be successful.
What was the hardest part of preparing for the exam?
Motivating myself to study after a hard day at work.
And the easiest?
The feeling you get when you find out you’ve passed!
Do you have a revision technique that you rely on?
I read the books, listen to tutorials, make notes, then make notes from my notes that I put on “Post its” and stick on the wall.
How was the exam?
This is the most difficult so far. You have to know so much about tax then apply your knowledge – it’s not just a matter of knowing your stuff.
Also, the time frame is very tight, with several tough calculations to complete while under pressure. Approximately one minute for each question may sound like a long time, but in reality it flies by.
What will it mean for you professionally?
It will increase my knowledge of the industry and help me offer customers a more meaningful experience. But also it’ll give me an immense sense of self belief, pride, and confidence.
Are you now working towards another qualification, or are you taking a break before diving into your next challenge?
I have the R06 to complete to get my diploma. This will be tough but I intend making enquiries and plans next month around its completion.
We celebrate Wunmi David’s one-year work anniversary
Wunmi David has been a great asset to our Client Support team over the last 12 months. Assisting the team with any administrative support including producing all relevant paperwork, portfolios, and reports, Wunmi also works with providers to follow up and retrieve accurate information and liaises with clients to keep them informed.
We caught up with Wunmi to find out more about how she came to join the KBA team and what she loves most about her job.
What were you doing before you joined the KBA team, and do you remember the interview?
I was studying and working at the same time before my job with KBA. I remember my interview well; it was with Jack and Karen, and they were so welcoming and lovely – they both made me feel very relaxed.
What do you remember about your first day at KBA Financial?
My first day at KBA was a quarterly meeting where I got to meet everyone. It was an interesting first day because I got to learn a lot about KBA before I’d even stepped into the office. It was a great opportunity to see how people fit into the different parts of the company’s goals.
What do you love most about your job?
I love the flexibility of my job and the fact that I can work independently to achieve my tasks while also getting the necessary support from the rest of my team members. Everything and everyone at KBA fit well together to create a great working environment.
Favourite memorable moment?
My favourite memory is our team getaway last October where we got to bond as a team. It was lovely to spend such a great time with everyone in the company.
Kerry Lee Marais has also been on the team a whole year already
Customer Consultant at our Nantwich Agency, Kerry Lee Marais celebrated her one-year work anniversary last month, too.
Every day Kerry helps people with their accounts, providing her knowledge to the customers on what products we have on sale, as well as taking phone calls.
We caught up with Kerry on a quick tea break to find out more about her work and how we came to be lucky enough to have her join the team.
What were you doing before you joined the KBA team, and do you remember the interview?
My interview at KBA, which was with my Team Leader and the Operations Director, was very interesting.
I remember it being quite a rush the day I came into the agency, but my interview was quite relaxed because they were so welcoming. It was a good interview and gave me the chance to find out more about the company, as well as for them to find out more about me.
Right before I was working at KBA I worked at planet doughnut (yum 😊) but that was only short-term because I’d just moved to the UK. My job before that was at a safari in South Africa! I worked and lived at that job, waking up to a view of lions just a few metres from my doorstep every day…
What do you remember about your first day at KBA Financial?
My first day at KBA was manic! It had recently been the start of the new tax year, and customers had definitely made sure to keep my colleagues busy.
Not being familiar at all with how a financial industry works it was very daunting at first, but I look back now and it’s not so daunting anymore.
For some reason, the tech let us down and I couldn’t log in on my first day, so the only option I had was to shadow one of my colleagues. This was still very good because I could watch how we interact with customers.
What do you love most about your job?
I mostly love being able to help customers, whether it’s helping them understand their savings account in a clearer way or just a simple gesture of kindness. Also, expanding my knowledge each day.
Favourite memorable moment?
Winning the shining star award. It was the last thing I had expected to be chosen for, but I was extremely happy to know that the company was happy with the work I do and the effort I put in.
