Victoria Rose, who joined the building society when she was a teenager, has been promoted to lead the branch on English Street.
She will oversee the reopening of the prominent city centre store on October 14 following a major refurbishment.
Her promotion to Cluster Manager for Carlisle means she also leads all of The Cumberland’s other city branches.
Victoria said: “It is very exciting to take on this new role. The Carlisle team is the biggest team in the branch network, they have a very good reputation, and have a really high footfall.
“There is huge anticipation in the business about the reopening of English Street. The refurbishment is done, and we have been showing colleagues around.
“I am taking over at a very exciting time for The Cumberland in Carlisle. It’s really amazing to have this opportunity. There may have been a glass of prosecco when I found out I had the job!”
She joined The Cumberland 15 years ago when she was 18, after deciding university wasn’t for her.
“I thought I wanted to become a history teacher. I realised quite quickly that university wasn’t right for me and came home,” says Victoria who grew up in Workington, where she still lives.
“I knew I wanted a good job with a local company where I could learn things and there would be career progression.”
Aged 18, she joined The Cumberland as a branch assistant at the Cockermouth branch and never looked back.
“That was a front-line role serving customers,” she says. “It was all about working accurately and getting the technical stuff right but also building that rapport with customers. Within a month they knew me, and I knew them and if I was out at lunchtime customers would stop and chat.”
Victoria progressed to become a mortgage advisor. “I really, really enjoyed that,” she says. “A customer would come and say, I have seen this house but I’m not sure if we can afford it and forty-five minutes later, they could go and put an offer on that house.
“Our customers are really loyal and after a couple of years they would come back and say, Victoria you helped us buy our first house, and we would help them to buy their next house.
“People in the town knew us for having a really good reputation for good mortgage products and for our service, it was very rewarding.”
Victoria was promoted to assistant manager in her hometown of Workington and then took charge as Cluster Manager for West Cumbria branches.
In November she was promoted to the Carlisle role putting her in charge of 40 colleagues serving thousands of customers.
“From a management career perspective it was a real achievement,” she says. “This is my next challenge.”
Described as a branch ‘re-imagined for the future’ of Cumberland’s banking, Victoria says, “English Street will still feel like a Cumberland branch but the look will be very different.”
“The design is very Cumbrian and authentic. Different areas of the branch reflect different parts of the county such as West Cumbria with its industrial heritage and the calm and tranquillity of the Lake District.”
Themes from English Street will be rolled out to other branches, said Victoria.
“A lot of towns have lost their bank. We want to show that The Cumberland is proud to be from this part of the world and the new English Street branch reflects that.”
Victoria has no regrets that university didn’t work out for her when she was a teenager.
“I love working for The Cumberland,” she says. “Being able to make a mark is amazing. I love the people here. I love how we do look after our colleagues and how you can be yourself. This company definitely gives you the confidence to say what you think.
“I have been lucky in my career. On my first day as an 18-year-old thinking can I do this, I had a team of people saying I have got your back.”
Last year, along with other Cumberland employees, Victoria volunteered at a foodbank as part of The Cumberland’s Kinder Kind of Kitchens charitable initiative.
“Yes, we are a building society, but we are also there for our customers and our community. I’m proud of that.”
Meanwhile back at home in West Cumbria customers still stop to chat.
“They see me in town and say Hi Victoria, how is it going, do you miss us?”