Employee Stories
Our employees are the heart of everything we do. They bring passion, dedication, and unique perspectives to their roles, shaping our culture and driving our success. Get to know some of our incredible individuals below.
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Gemma Kinsman
Product and Business Development Manager
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Jenny Belk
Mortgage Underwriter
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Jake Parkinson
Mortgage Administrator
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Gemma Kinsman
“I joined Chorley Building Society in 2014 and moved to the local area just after that. I was a graduate, fresh from university and this was the first step in my career. Almost 10 years later and I’ve developed my career through several different roles. I started my Chorley Building Society career as Mortgage Administrator. From there I received internal development to perform as Mortgage Underwriter. I utilised my mortgage product knowledge to progress to Telephone Business Development Manager and eventually on to my current role as Product and Business Development Manager. So I’ve enjoyed quite a range of roles and experiences, which have all benefited me on my career journey. I’ve also really felt the support of the Society to be able to do this in good balance with my home life, being supported by several of the Society’s family-friendly policies over the years and my current role also works well in hybrid-working. In terms of my day-to-day now, I mainly focus on product development. This can be anything from creating product proposals, managing internal meetings with key stakeholders, liaising with external companies representing our products or monitoring the product markets. No two days are the same and my activities are so varied, which is what I love about the role. I work with most departments in Chorley Building Society and enjoy gaining insight into different areas, which keeps me interested and engaged! My personal highlight has to be gaining my CeMAP qualification, which allowed me to become a Mortgage Underwriter. I also find it so rewarding to be a member of our Charity committee for a number of years. Living in the local area, helping people and being able to see the difference we make to local charities and good causes is very satisfying.”
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Jenny Belk
“I’ve been at Chorley Building Society for 8 years now, having joined in 2016, I previously ran a business and also worked in banking, and started in our Savings branches as a Customer Service Advisor. I progressed from there to managing the counter at our Key House branch. Then the opportunity arose in 2019 for me to move into the Mortgage department as a Trainee Mortgage Underwriter and complete my CeMAP qualification, which really met my development ambition to upskill and progress. The Society also supported the costs of my external training and qualification, which really helped me achieve this. The training to develop into Mortgage Underwriter was challenging, but enjoyable and interesting, as I was working in the role it gave me plenty of opportunity to put into practice my learning, which helped me understand and adapt to it quickly. My day-to-day has me speaking to intermediaries, discussing lending criteria and how we can find ways to help people secure their mortgage, even when their circumstances are beyond usual or a challenge. We have to assess Decision in Principles and mortgage applications. I love it when we can say yes and offer a mortgage! Being able to buy a home is a great landmark and being a part of that is very rewarding. I really enjoy being part of Chorley Building Society. I can honestly say I’m proud to work here, the people are great, the charity work we do is rewarding and prominent and there are so many opportunities to get involved. My personal highlight, as mentioned, is passing my CeMAP, and working across different great teams every day is always a pleasure.”
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Jake Parkinson
“I first joined Chorley Building Society in 2019 as a Level 3 Business Administration Apprentice in the HR department. This gave me the opportunity to develop my skills alongside achieving my qualification. Whilst living locally to the Society’s Head Office branch in Chorley, being able to work and study at the same time definitely improved my experience and allowed me to successfully secure my permanent position as Mortgage Administrator with Chorley Building Society. I love working here because my role includes a wide range of administrative and compliance-based tasks. I enjoy the role as it’s varied and presents different challenges that allow me to develop my experience. I enjoy interacting with customers giving them the best experience possible throughout their mortgage journey and giving great support to solicitors and brokers. I feel included and really part of the Mortgage Administration team here, committed to developing my industry knowledge with my colleagues around me. Chorley Building Society even helped my partner and I get our first mortgage! So I know first-hand how great our customer service is!’’
Employee Journeys
Find out more about our people here.