As part of our ongoing commitment to excellence, we’ve recently welcomed an awesome duo to our training dream team. We introduced a new starter to the team, Jodie Burns, as our Practical Training Lead – who brings a wealth of experience within finance to the table; as well as welcoming back Erin Bird from maternity leave – to revamp her role as Course Designer.

However, before we dive in, let’s re-introduce you to some familiar faces – Paul Sylvester-Evans, our Training Manager, and Kate Purcell, our T&C Consultant.

Paul spends his days with advisers and paraplanners helping them progress through their careers and fulfilling their potential in a truly diverse and unique profession. Training and coaching are his key strengths and he believes there is nothing more satisfying than seeing firms and their people flourish.

But that’s not all! Paul comes with lots of industry insight as he has been in plenty of roles such as a Tied Adviser, IFA, Area Manager and Regional Director, the latter in banking where he was responsible for a team of circa 100 financial planners.

We asked him what it’s like working at Verve and he said:

“There is nowhere like it in financial services. Variety is the spice of life which makes every day a joy.”

Our T&C Consultant. Kate also comes with a load of knowledge as she has a background of 3 years in an estate agency, before moving into financial services in 2015 as a Client Services Manager, then into advising until she joined our compliance team in 2021. You’ll get to know Kate if you are a Training and Competency client with her quarterly one-to-ones.

We also asked Kate what it’s like working at Verve and she said…

“It’s a great team to be a part of. Expect a refreshing, forward-thinking and common-sense approach to everything!”

Let us introduce you to the newest team member, Jodie…

For the past 8 years, Jodie has been working in an advice firm. She started off doing administrative tasks, then moved up to become a paraplanner, earning her diploma along the way. Jodie is really into keeping things organised and pays close attention to detail in everything she does. Because she knows how both the advice process and client journey work, she’s great at sharing tips to make sure everyone has a good experience.

When we caught up with Jodie about what attracted her to Verve, she shared:

“I have known of Verve for a few years, and I have always admired not only the quality work they do but their mission to change the face of finance. It was clear to me from that day that the company culture and its mission for the wider world of finance was something that I wanted to contribute to.”

Jodie has been put straight to work, refining our internal training programme for The Grad Scheme, to help nurture the new talent at Verve and support them in building the foundations for success in their new roles.

Jodie’s love of training and developing people is apparent as she talked about her aspirations at Verve:

“I believe there is a real gap in not only attracting people to finance initially but also in upskilling and retaining experienced staff once you have them. As Practical Training Lead, I want to be able to help deliver training that is not only informative and engaging but more importantly teaches practical skills that can be transferred to the workplace. I am genuinely excited about my future here at Verve and to see what difference I can make to the world of finance.”

Jodie’s enthusiasm and vision for the future perfectly align with our goals here at Verve. We’re beyond thrilled to have her on board to develop a training service that delivers much-needed practical skills.

Next up, we’re thrilled to have Erin re-join us from her maternity leave, looking after her gorgeous son, Ezra. We caught up with her too, and here’s what she had to say about her return:

“After a whole year of family time and baby snuggles, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t apprehensive about my return to working life. Having a baby brings so many changes to your life, body, and mentality, and it’s easy to get stuck in your own bubble and fear change. It’s honestly been great. Juggling a lack of sleep with an illchild (bring on the nursery lurgies) was definitely a learning curve last week, but if anything, it’s proved to me that I can handle more than I think.

I’ve returned to a brand-new Learning Management System (LMS), which I can’t wait to get up and running for everyone to use. This is my first project to get stuck into on my return and it’s a really nice one to start with… fresh system, fresh team, fresh start!”

Erin’s dedication and passion are contagious and we’re so pleased to have her back, bringing her expertise and creativity to the training team to make our training engaging and accessible to everyone.

We’re so thrilled to have been busy developing training and competency programmes for advisers, and with Erin’s return bringing some renewed vigour and creativity to our online T&C courses available through our tech Dextera. Our T&C service has expanded as we now work with over 130 advisers, and our offerings are better than ever!

Here’s to growth, innovation, and making waves in the world of finance, one training session at a time!

–The Verve Group