Five Minutes With
ive F Minutes with: Louisa Sedgwick Louisa Sedgwick Managing Director, Specialist Mortgages Hampshire Trust Bank Describe your role in ten words or less? New, exciting, busy, challenging, educational, rewarding... ageing!
How do you make a difference? Gosh – I like to think I am a good listener who adapts well to most situations. At my age (I am very old) I have experienced a whole host of people and practices – I always try to take the positives out of most situations and then share them.
What’s the most common reason for turning away a deal?
much time because you have so much. Now I see the weeks rushing by and I try to cram them with experiences – so whilst no one can buy time, we can use it far more effectively – rubbish answer, but I am not good at making anything that anyone would want to buy – other than sausage and mash!
What advice do you have for the modern commercial finance broker? Know your lender – what do they do, what niches can they offer to support your customers – they will help you write more business if you work closely with them.
Poor story telling! If we don’t get a full story, it’s incredibly difficult to build a solution – we are always keen to try to support the broker in placing the deal with us, but we need warts and all to help reach the decision.
I would like to say running – but actually it’s sour cream and chive pretzels – lovely!
If you were to start your own small business, what would it sell?
What changes do you hope to see in the ‘new normal’?
Time – when you are young you waste so
I would love to think that we don’t always
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What has been your lockdown essential?
go back to doing what we always did – that would be so easy. How fabulous would it be if we maintained the skill of enjoying a great work/life balance – go out, get some fresh air, feel rejuvenated – I am yet to find a task that absolutely needs to be done there and then – we are after all not saving lives – we are just enhancing them.
Which person has inspired you the most? I have worked with some truly inspirational people – too many to mention, I have been lucky. But the person who has inspired me the most is my mum – she is bright, beautiful, supportive, loving and just all round awesome!
What law would you pass if you were Prime Minister for the day? I would like to see robust housing policies be set and then actually followed through, some continuity of tenure of a decent housing minister– a five-year plan would be a dream!
