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Careers at Freedom Finance
Finding a loan can be repetitive and hard work, we simplify the loan search and application process to provide an efficient and accurate experience. Customer’s complete ONE application and we search our wide panel of lenders to find the perfect loan for them, tailor made to their individual circumstances.
Our free quotation search has no impact at all on a customer’s credit rating, and unlike comparison sites they don’t get bombarded with unnecessary calls, emails or texts from our lenders.
What we do…….
Located close to Manchester Airport, our office is situated on the 1st floor across the two wings of Atlantic House. With great transport links including the Metrolink stop (Peel Hall) within 2 minutes walking distance and Heald Green train station approx. 5 mins walk. Close to both the M60 and M56 and main routes into the city centre.
We are located between two towns, Wythenshawe Civic Centre and Heald Green, both have excellent shopping facilities and amenities, which include eateries, supermarkets and also local gyms.
Atlantic House, Atlas Business Park, Simonsway, Manchester M22 5PR
Our Office
Who we work with…
Working Environment……
We boast a fun working environment with on-site facilities including Nintendo Wii’s, Ping Pong Table, Samsung Tablets, Pool Table, Popcorn Machine and much more.
Our relaxation areas include the ‘Marrakech’ the ‘Snug’ and the ‘Picnic area’.
Why would you not want to work here!
Benefits
Contributory pension scheme
Childcare scheme
Simply Health scheme
Preferential or free private healthcare depending on role
Long Service Award
Between 30 and 33 days holiday a year (inc. of public hols)
Free Life Assurance from day one
Eye Tests and Discount on Glasses for VDU Users
Zest - Events club run by staff for the staff
ZestFreedom Finance also supports an in-house social club, Zest, which is organised and run by club members. Funds raised from membership are matched by the company, and used to subsidise a range of activities. Recent offers include discounts on gym membership, tickets for football matches and the theatre, spa days, meals out and discounts at local shops.
The Zest committee facilitates a 'Work hard - Play hard' attitude into our culture and builds a cohesive sense of community, adding a certain 'Joie de vivre' to our workplace.
Some of past events include:Domino Pizza Cupcake or Roses Valentines Raffle (inc. Meal for 2)
Fish & Chips LunchComedy Night 80s Night Murder Mystery Casino Night
Grand National Draw Bowling
Ice Cream Van Summer Party - Drinks vouchers
Easter Eggs 10 Days of Summer Chocolate Fountain Cocktail Master class Countdown to Christmas
Advent Calendar Christmas Party Drinks
Sales Centre
The sales centre is the first contact we have with all of our customers so it is paramount that we make a flawless first impression. We have inbound, outbound and special sales teams.
Inbound
Our inbound teams are responsible for the customer service, Freedom Finance direct and third party introducers that call into the business. They take our customers through applications accurately capturing the data and putting it into our system to generate the customer quotes based on their personal circumstances.
Operations
Outbound
Our outbound teams are responsible for calling customers that are on the market actively looking for a loan, these are leads that have come directly from our website and business partners. Our outbound teams do no cold calling, all of these customers have requested to be contacted. Similarly to our inbound teams the outbound teams capture the data accurately and generate quotes, presenting them to the customer and matching the quotes
Special Sales Team
Our specialist sales team are a group of sales people who take customer care and service very seriously, the primary role is to convert leads from our Contact Centre into Secured Loans by aligning our customer needs to the lending criteria. 71% of our specialist sales advisors worked within our contact centre and therefore have been supported by Freedom Finance financially and academically through their CeMAP 1,2 & 3 qualifications to make them fully qualified mortgage advisors.
Processing
Our processing team work closely with the Special Sales and Processing Administrator Teams to get our customers loans to pay out stage. They are required to review and verify all loan documents following-up with customers for any missing information required to be able to complete the funding of the loan.
Processing Administrators
Processing Administrators assist with a range of administrative duties across the business but their main role is to assist the processors in gathering all the information necessary to pay out the customers loan.
Operations
ITThe IT Department is on hand to manage and maintain existing systems, including the organisations hardware, software and physical communication. Our IT department continually assists all areas of the business in new project work including developing tools, software and applications used in house and across the financial sector.
HR
The HR department provides support to all areas of the company regarding recruitment, on-boarding and orientation, training and development, absence, performance management and coaching , navigating change , conflict resolution and other facilitation services, employee relations, compensation management, health/wellbeing and safety of employees
Support Functions
ComplianceCompliance keeps the legal and ethical integrity of the company intact through policy enforcement. They are responsible for making sure all departments are complying with the rules and regulations the company uphold, auditing and quality assurance.
CommercialOur commercial department establishes and maintains the relationships with our business partners. They liaise with the operations department to identify new business opportunities and areas for improvement so that our customers receive the best service and products possible.
FinanceThe finance department takes responsibility for organising the financial and accounting affairs including the preparation and presentation of appropriate accounts, and the provision of financial information for managers.
Business IntelligenceBusiness Intelligence main focus is to provide insight to the business, provide decision support and manage the structure and integrity of data and related databases. The team manage and manipulate the raw data to get it into a useful state for the business to use and make decisions from. They then use this summarised data to drill deeper into business issues and provide analytical support to ensure the business makes better, more informed, decisions.
MarketingThe marketing department is responsible for increasing the companies presence amongst potential consumers and other companies within the industry. As well as overseeing advertising, promotion, customer service and public relations.
Support Functions
Meet the team……
Learning & Development
In-ter-nal55%
Ex-ternal45%
Where do our Managers come from?
Having the knowledge and skills to do your job well is absolutely vital for the success of our business so we make sure you have a structured induction & training programme. This is often tailored to suit individual needs and will cover business processes, technology, communication skills, the workings of other departments and company values.
In addition we ensure that your training continues once you've been hired. You'll have monthly one-to-ones, regular coaching, support from your Manager, and consideration will be given to any training requirements you feel you have. To help our new Managers reach their full potential we offer a comprehensive programme to develop people management skills and ensure compliance with our various policies and procedures.
When hiring for a manager we understand the importance of recognising talent and aspirations of current staff. We advertise our management positions internally first and compliment the recruitment with external talent where necessary. As shown by this pie chart over 50% of our management have progressed from internal positions.
I started in inbound sales and immediately became one of the top performers on the team. I hit target every month until the point of my probation ending. At this point my manager at the time helped me put together a presentation for the application of Specialist Sales Advisor. I consequently got the job and continued my progression – I'm known to be ridiculously positive and enthusiastic in everything I do and quickly developed within Specialist Sales. Within 2014 I decided to choose a mentor within the business to further my development – this involved 1-2-1 sessions and played a massive part in my progression. I built bonds with people within the Commercial department of the back of this personal development and started to get a further understanding of the business. At the beginning of 2015 The Lending Wizard was restructured and I saw an opportunity to further my career, I started contacting the userbase for the team whilst also working in Specialist Sales. After 1 month of doing this a position came up to contact the database and generate business from registered users under the description of Broker Support – I applied and was successful.
Employee Testimonials……
I've now been on Freedom for Intermediaries for 8 months and have continued to progress – I started purely contacting the database and this developed into broker contact and relationship building. This gathered further momentum and I began taking applications, designing mailshots and expanding The Lending Wizards user base. I now head up the bridging and commercial lending side of things after taking time to expand my knowledge base, and have started to visit local brokers and develop strong relationships, my current role is now a Key Account Manager.
Tom Wall – Key Account Manager
I began my time at Freedom Finance as a Specialist Sales Advisor role within the Specialist Sales Team. The recruitment company who placed me with Freedom Finance felt I would be well suited to this role as I had a financial background when studying Mathematics and Finance at University and I would hopefully have knowledge of the growing financial services industry. This role was primarily customer facing where I discussed different loan options with a variety of customers and I enjoyed the technical aspects of it alongside the generous monthly bonuses.
Due to the continuous growth Freedom Finance was experiencing, a new role as a Finance Analyst became available that well suited my career aspirations and my background. After successfully applying for the role, Freedom Finance supported my training in becoming a qualified chartered accountant by entirely funding the three year professional education programme whilst giving me study leave for each examination.
The role involved using analytical and logical skills to help understand and improve the different operational and supporting departments, adding value where possible to contribute to the growth of the business. This role gave me insight and experience in to all areas of the business including, but not limited to, Sales, Marketing, Lead Generation, ICT, Finance and HR where I would regularly look at improving performance, identifying problems, finding solutions and being involved in a lot of very important decisions made by the business.
After three years working as a Finance Analyst and qualifying as an accountant, I was promoted to a Commercial Finance Business Partner within the Commercial Finance team and I was invited to join the Senior Management Team.
Freedom Finance have supported my development from the day I joined the company and I feel valued working here whilst I have gained a lot of experience and skills as I’ve been involved in many different projects, departments and tasks that vary day to day.
If the business continues to grow I am confident that I will develop and progress whilst working here.
Josh Bowe – Commercial Finance Business Partner
“I joined Freedom Finance in July 2013 as part of the Commercial team. My manager at the time was always very encouraging of me to express my longer-term career aspirations and was extremely helpful in getting me more exposure to these areas of the business. I was given frequent involvement in large projects and worked closely with the ICT department on many of them.
My progression through Freedom Finance over the past two and a half years has certainly not been ‘standard’, but this just shows the flexibility of the company and the possibility for staff to grow and develop in the way they want to. Beginning in the Commercial department, I went from a support role into being far more involved with underwriting, as well as taking on project and analysis work, before moving into the ICT department six months ago as a Systems Developer on Freedom Finance’s automated underwriting system, a role I thoroughly enjoy. I don’t think I would have been considered for this role without having previously been granted opportunities to be involved with, and given exposure to, the various aspects of the business that interested me, and to let me show that I had an aptitude for these. As a result, I am now in a role that I genuinely enjoy, and that challenges and engages me on a daily basis.
Right from the very start, I felt that Freedom Finance was a company that encouraged growth and development from its employees in the direction they want their careers to go in. I am absolutely delighted with how things have worked out for me and many of my colleagues, and I cannot wait to see what the future with Freedom will hold.”
Conor O'Donovan – Assistant Systems Developer
I joined Freedom Finance in 2011 as an Inbound/Outbound Sales Advisor. After a short period of time my talent was spotted and I was offered a role as a Specialist Sales Adviser.
I continued with my role as a Specialists Sales Advisor for 3 years. Whilst in the role I took an interest in learning and developing my own skills. I enrolled on a CeMAP course, which later was refunded by the company. They have supported me in various other courses and helped me to get to the role I am in now, Regulatory Training Officer.
Over the last few years I have been recognised for my innovative and dedicated behaviours and in 2014 I received an ‘ABCD Gold’ Award and more recently in June 2016 I received ‘Outstanding Achievement’ Award.
It is a great place to work and many of the people I have come in to contact with, during my time here, I can call my friends.
Matt Birkett – Regulatory Training Officer
What to do next…
If you are interested in working in any of the departments or roles please take a look at our careers site, if there is not a vacancy to suit you register your interest via a speculative application;
https://www.freedomfinance.co.uk/careers/vacancies/
Or you can alternatively email Corin at [email protected]
Find us on FB @ Freedom Finance CareersLinkedIn and Glassdoor @ Freedom FinanceTwitter @FreedomFinance
