In our latest ‘Five mins with…’ series we meet Ollie Shrubsall, Paragon’s new Business Development Manager for the SME Lending Broker team.
Congratulations on your new role, have you got any advice for breaking into the industry?
I would suggest keeping up-to-date with what’s happening in the world economically. A quick five minutes each day looking at global business news and considering how this impacts the UK finance industry and our role within the market has proven helpful for me. It enables interesting conversations with customers and brokers and adds value to your working relationships, which, in turn, opens new sales opportunities.
I’m also a firm believer that you make your own luck when working in sales, so persistence and resilience is key to success.
If you had your own SME, what would it be? No idea is too bizarre or quirky!
I always fancied owning a sports journalism company covering many of the world’s largest sporting events. Travelling the world, meeting and interviewing the world’s most famous sporting names and attending global events, in particular the football World Cup and the Olympics.
I have always found it interesting to hear about how top sports people find their motivation and adopt certain training techniques to achieve success and reach the top of their game. Some free tickets to the events mentioned would be a bonus!
What do you enjoy outside of work?
Having moved back to my hometown in Portsmouth during the pandemic, I now enjoy living close to my family and old school friends.
I moved to Cardiff for University and stayed for 11 years so I enjoy heading back to Wales every now and again. I live five minutes from the beach so I like spending time down there over the summer, alternatively a good pub and a Sunday roast always goes down well over the winter months.
Thank you for taking the time today to participate in this interview. Before we go, we’d love to know have you got any hidden talents or party tricks?
When working a summer job in my early 20s, I qualified as a lifeguard. Thankfully I never had to do my best Baywatch run across the beach and save anyone!
Visit our SME Lending Intermediaries page to learn more about how we work with brokers.