Local Lady All Set To Branch Out

Press release published on 29 November 2006 by Scarborough Building Society

Luanne Hood is a key player in the rapid evolution of Scarborough Building Society – a fact that’s apparent the minute you walk through the doors of the city centre branch where she’s just taken over as manager.

And she’s already made her mark after only two months in post, implementing new processes and creating a buzzing team atmosphere which is almost palpable to visitors.

Yorkshire-born Luanne was appointed manager of the Society’s Boar Lane branch after relocating from her previous management position at its York site. The 29-year-old has spent her entire career so far in financial services, working her way up the graduate programme of a High Street bank and another Yorkshire based building society before joining Scarborough

But she sees her new role in Leeds as her biggest, and most exciting, challenge yet. Not only is this one of the jewels in Scarborough’s branch network, but its location in one of the North’s most vibrant cities gives her huge scope.

The Society plans to relocate the branch to another prime city centre site next year, too, with a major refurbishment programme planned to boot.

Having lived in Leeds since graduating from university, she also feels an additional pressure to make it big in the place she knows best. She said: “Taking on such an important branch in Scarborough’s network is a fantastic career opportunity for me and I am pleased to be working in such a busy environment.

“Running the Leeds branch of Scarborough Building Society at the moment is really exciting, especially with relocation on the cards. I have the task of raising people’s awareness and ensuring that we are at the top of the list when it comes to savings and mortgages.

“Leeds is such a vibrant city, with lots of regeneration and it’s my role to get out into the local community and start making a difference. We have lots of ideas and plans coming up so I would urge people to keep an eye on Scarborough!”

Leeds is a key target area for the Scarborough as it is fast becoming the financial centre of the north. Not only is the Society placing a lot of investment in the branch itself – including Luanne’s crack new team of staff – but it has also located its new Specialist Lending Centre in the city, hub of the society’s non-conforming mortgage business, which was launched in October.

Added to this, Scarborough has recently widened the remit of branch managers like Luanne, giving them a wider brief more like that of business development managers. This means their responsibilities now include business growth, building links with other local businesses, mortgage intermediaries and community organisations, raising Scarborough’s profile and the ongoing training and development of their teams.

For example, as part of Scarborough’s Corporate Social Responsibility Commitment, the Society donates approximately 1% of its pre-tax profits to good causes annually (£50,000 in 2006/7). For the coming year, it has devolved £1,000 of this fund to each of its nine branches – including Leeds, to support a local good cause. It will be Luanne’s job to seek out an organisation in the Leeds area which will benefit from this money.

As with the society’s flagship branch in Scarborough, its Leeds branch aims to offer a new dimension in personalised customer service, where staff are encouraged to come out from behind the counter and get to know customers, building long term relationships which will help them to cater for people’s long term financial needs. Next year’s relocation will only serve to reaffirm this commitment.

Luanne is relishing the opportunity to shape her branch’s future in what is an exciting evolutionary period for the Scarborough Building Society as a whole: “I am at the helm of a fast moving, ever changing branch and I have to say I’m loving every minute of it!”

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