In his spare time, he is a keen golfer playing off a handicap of 9 and likes to socialise with friends when time permits around his busy family life.
Here, we take a look at what a typical week is like for Mark at Assetz Capital…
‘Monday is a particularly busy day for me. I like to spend the day in the office as it gives me access to everything I need, including the relevant departments I have to liaise with to get the job done.
The day starts with a conference call with the MD, Marketing and the rest of the Relationship Director Team, of which there are 24 of us in total, spanning the whole of the UK. It’s a good forum to raise any thoughts for the week ahead and is also a good opportunity to get any business updates which may affect the conversations we’re having with intermediaries and borrowers.
I spend the rest of the day predominantly working through my existing pipeline and following up any deals with Decisions in Principal with the relevant broker.
I liaise with our full range of professionals from valuers, monitoring surveyors and solicitors to ensure that the deals on which they are instructed continue to move towards a swift completion and that there is no outstanding information.
Whilst in the office I’ll also take the opportunity to catch up with the various departments and try to close any queries down that have arisen. I’ll have a chat with the credit team and check their appetite for any potential new deals that I’ve been working on.
I’ll also have a conversation with the finance team to discuss the range of funding options currently available to borrowers.
Spending some quality time with the Relationship Support Team (RST) is key. They are integral to the day to day role of a Relationship Director and I lean on them heavily to produce Decisions in Principle, instruct professionals, check fees and create offer letters. There isn’t a day goes by throughout the week that I don’t pick up the phone to the team.
The rest of the week I’ll split between home working and meetings. As with any external role, I need time to do my admin. This can range from managing solicitors, chasing outstanding information, negotiating legal documentation, reading professional reports and preparing credit papers. Coupled with this, there are always new opportunities coming through the door; so I always make sure I get an initial response out to brokers so they know where they stand.
Being on the road, I’ll have any number of external meetings in a typical week. It may be a catch up with a broker to do a fact find on a deal, then following this, a follow-up meeting with the borrower on-site to start turning the initial conversation into a reality.
I’m constantly on the lookout for new business opportunities so I’m a keen user of Social Media and attend any relevant networking events or exhibitions, like the Financial Services Expo in Manchester. It’s always a great way of bolstering existing relationships and creating new ones.
For new broker meetings, I’ll visit the brokerage and present to the team, highlighting Assetz Capital’s product and service offering and what stands us apart from our competitors. Developing new business opportunities like this are fundamental to the job and allow me to share the Assetz Capital message and engage with potential business partners. There’s no better feeling in my job than watching one of these new relationships flourish into a successfully completed deal between the intermediary, the borrower and Assetz Capital.’
