My progression
I was first attracted to The Cumberland as I saw the opportunity to forge a career that I can be proud of, and I liked the emphasis on customer service. I’ve now been at The Cumberland for just over 6 years and in that time I’ve been able to progress pretty quickly. There’s plenty of opportunity for development and it’s something that’s been really heavily encouraged since I got here.
I started out as a Customer Service Assistant, dealing with transactions on the counter. Since then, I have undertaken every branch role, and gained my CMAP qualification, all preparing me for my progression to Assistant Branch Manager, and then Branch Manager which I’ve been doing for 6 months now and thoroughly enjoying it. It’s been a whirlwind 6 months and there’s been a lot achieved in that short space of time. I’m still encouraged to progress and learn new things even though I’m manager of 3 branches.
Work-life balance
The Cumberland to me is a really exciting place to have a career, and I love that my branches are on my doorstep, and head office is only half an hour down the road from where I live. There’s an exciting time of change going on here at the moment – which has made The Cumberland a really great place to work over the last 12 months. It’s been a really engaging and encouraging time and I’m really looking forward to see what the future will hold for us.
I have a great work-life balance which allows me to spend time at home with my wife, doing things I enjoy outside of work and doing things with my son, watching him grow up. Outside work I’m a keen 6 or 7-aside football player and play at least two nights a week .
Teamwork
Whether you’re in branch – be it Brampton, Dumfries, Preston or Whitehaven, or head office in Carlisle, we’re all one team. Yes we all have our individual goals and tasks we undertake on a day to day basis, but at the end of the day if you need help you can pick up the phone and call anyone at any other branch. I’ve never experienced anyone not wanting to help me. The last 6 months has been daunting at times - the branch is now my responsibility, but my peers and line management always encourage me to get in touch for support – nothing is ever a hassle. Team is a massive aspect of The Cumberland.
It’s a superb team environment. We want to offer an exceptional service to our customers and improve the lives of our customers, and we’re all focused on doing that. It’s such a team effort. You seldom take it home with you because you’re all in it together and you get such a good amount of support during the day.