LISA POWER is a private banking partner at Yorkshire Bank’s Financial Solutions Centre, in Liverpool. Her clients include solicitors, managing directors and professionals in the city.
She started her career in banking 22 years ago and joined Yorkshire Bank in January, 2007.
6.45am: I’m up earlier than usual today. I’ve got to fit in my 30- minute walk before I meet a client who called late last night to request a meeting this morning. He’d successfully bid on a property and phoned me direct from the auction to make sure that he had funds in his account for the 10% deposit and to ascertain how quickly I could meet with him. I usually leave my phone on until teatime – deals can happen late at night and my clients need prompt decisions from me. Any later than that and they know they can leave a message and I’ll act on it in the morning.
7.15am: Luckily, my two daughters – Olivia, five, and Bethany, six – can’t tell the time yet, so there are no complaints about the early wake-up call.
8am: A slight detour on the school run takes me to the Chester Zoo Park and Ride where I’m meeting my client. Not the most conventional of locations, but it’s equidistant from our houses and we just need to exchange some documents and have a quick discussion. With four weeks to complete the purchase of the property he secured, I need to move quickly.
8.20am: Slightly tricky conversation with the kids – no, we are not actually going to the Zoo today! A quick blast of Queen’s greatest hits pacifies them on the way to school. I drop them off and make my way through the Birkenhead tunnel and on to the office.
9.15am: Arrive at Moorfields and get straight into looking over my lending excesses. It’s a very different culture at Yorkshire Bank from my last job. Here we all have our own lending limits. This means if one of my clients is seeking funding to support an investment, I’m able to make a decision based purely on its merits, rather than referring to a computer programme. It’s very liberating.
9.30am: Into a team meeting with the rest of the Liverpool-based partners. We don’t tend to advertise my specialism, private banking. Business is won purely on the strength of word of mouth and often through referrals from my colleagues. Likewise, if one of my clients is looking for commercial finance, then I can refer them to our in-house specialist who can deal with them.
10.30am: Over to the India Buildings. I’m meeting a new client for a full banking transfer. He’s a solicitor and is switching to Yorkshire Bank. It’s my job to cover every angle for my clients – from maximising tax efficiency through ISAs, to minimising Capital Gains Tax on the sale of their investments and planning for the future. Often, it’s as much about getting to know the person as it is their financial requirements. You can do a much better job if you really understand their priorities.
1pm: Out to 60 Hope Street for lunch with the corporate fund-raising managers of the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation. We’re trying to organising a charity swim across the Mersey. I have sea bass and a glass of rosé.
2.30pm: Back to the office for a training session on the banks’ mortgage software. As I’m a relative newcomer to the team, I’m still learning how to use some of the Yorkshire Bank computer systems.
4pm: Quick call to my mum to make sure she’s remembered to pick the kids up from school and have a quick chat with them both. I run through some more paperwork and catch up with my associate Andy and return some phone calls.
5.30pm: Leave the office and head home. Trevor has already picked the kids up from mum’s, and it’s up to me to then supervise homework, iron the school uniforms and make tomorrow’s lunches.
7.30pm: Out for the second walk of the day – with my next door neighbour Amanda. Between all the canapés at networking events and numerous business lunches, it’s important to get some exercise. We usually do about a mile and a half but we’re working our way up to the 3-mile round trip to the Bunbury Arms.
8.15pm: Trevor’s got the kids ready for bed and I’m on bedtime story duty before eating the seafood he’s prepared for me. After a little bit of housework, it’s time to crash on the couch with a glass of white and watch Big Brother.
