Our Operations and Finance Manager Linda has just celebrated 3 years with Rockwood and we are delighted to have her. We asked Linda to reflect on the past three years and what she has enjoyed most. Read Linda’s story.

“Wow, where have the past 3 years gone? Starting a new job is daunting in itself, let alone going back into the workplace after having a 9-year career break and into a completely different sector.  To say I was apprehensive and nervous was an understatement.  I knew zero about financial services absolutely diddly squat!  This was going to be a challenge and one I was ready to take on.

It is true when you are thrown in at the deep end, you learn to swim pretty quickly.  Catherine was lovely and helped me try to find me feet as quickly as possible. It was essential to provide the best support for Catherine but also to push the business forward.

One of the first things was understanding that the industry was heavily regulated, and we needed to remain compliant at all times and of course Karen our Compliance Manager aced this and got me up to speed.

Having to speak to providers on a daily basis to chase information came with its own challenges, slower timescales than I was used to dealing with and the realisation that I may have to wait up to 5 weeks for this information. Then I may still have to chase them after this time when we still hadn’t received it. This meant sometimes that we had to reschedule client meetings as we just didn’t have the information we needed.  It was an ever-moving target and one that needed monitoring each day. 

I have to say that through all of this our clients have been amazing and still are.  They understand when we have to move meetings due to not having the information back from third parties. It can be frustrating at times, but something that is not within our control.  I have to say since the pandemic in March these timescales are even longer with some providers, but we work hard to chase on behalf of the client.

We pride ourselves on our ability to understand our client’s goals and objectives. We look at the wider more long-term picture and have their financial wellbeing at the centre of everything we do.

We often say how amazing our clients are, and this really makes my job really worthwhile.  It’s lovely to chat on the phone and update them of the progress as well as catching up on their news. I find it really satisfying when we can achieve something for them that they have been struggling to do. A recent case saw us chase pensions that the client had no information about and was getting no sense of reply from the providers. Not only did we find the information, we helped them take the best actions for them and consolidate into one manageable plan. Extremely satisfying.

Rockwood Financial Solutions has come so far in 3 years and I can’t wait to see what the next few years brings.”