Employee Profiles

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to work for Stroud & Swindon Building Society?

Well here you have the chance to meet some of the staff members both in Head Office and in our branches. They’ll give you an insight into why they chose to work for the Society, and what their job involves on a day-to-day basis.

Head Office Staff

Tim Espley - Compliance Officer

I joined the Society in March 2007, working in the Compliance department.

Compliance is responsible for providing advice and guidance and also monitoring the Society's compliance with various regulatory requirements and codes of practice. This includes the FSA rules on the sale and administration of mortgages and non investment insurance contracts, the Banking Code, Data Protection and Money Laundering requirements. 

The Society's mutual status requires that we put our members' interests at the heart of what we do and that we treat them fairly. This goes a long way towards meeting our regulatory obligations.

Customer service is important to all of us and I have seen from my visits to branches that we are very much a part of the local community. We are close to our customers and provide a personal service which is unique today.

I am glad I am with Stroud & Swindon because I have enjoyed getting to know staff across the Society. I also like the variety in my work and opportunities to be involved in everything we do.

Also, living in Stroud and working within walking distance of my home means that I am getting great exercise and have considerably reduced my 'carbon footprint'!


Julie Yarranton - Learning & Development Facilitator 

I started working for Stroud & Swindon in April 2007 as a Retail Support Officer. This role involved producing new Branch procedures and amending existing ones, as well as operating a helpline for the Branch Network. The role also involved liaising with the Branch network and other Head Office departments on various projects.

In February 2008 the opportunity arose for me to transfer to our Learning and Development department as a Learning and Development Facilitator. This was a position that I have always been interested in and I received full support from my existing department in my application for the new role.

My new role involves facilitating learning and development across the organisation, through coaching, skills assessment, development and delivery of skills programmes and workshops, and identification and sharing of best practice. I am responsible for delivering the sales skills training to all new Customer Advisors to make sure they have the basic knowledge and confidence to perform their roles in the branches.

I am glad that I work for Stroud & Swindon because it is a friendly and supportive Society and in my role I get to meet new people all the time so no two days are ever the same.

Branch Staff

David Howley - Customer Manager

My name in David Howley and I work as the Customer Manager in our Lydney branch.

I started at the Lydney Branch in 1991 as a Customer Assistant until 1997 when I left the Society to work for an Insurance Group in Gloucester. From my first day there I realised I had made a mistake but decided to give the job at least 6 months. Then an opportunity arose for me to return to Lydney where I took up my previous role. In 2001 I transferred onto the Society Network Support Team and later on that year I was promoted to a Learning and Development Facilitator. In March 2007 I was successful in my application to become the Customer Manager at Lydney Branch.  It is great to be working back in my home town and close to my family - I can now walk to work! 

I have benefited from Work Life Balance within the Society, being one of the first men to take paternity leave when my daughter was born in 2002.

I especially enjoy my current role as I get to work with a variety of staff from across the organisation, and, at the end of the day, the staff are the Society’s main asset.

There are many opportunities available to employees within the Society if they choose to take them.  I feel very privileged to have been able to return to the Stroud & Swindon and for the career and development opportunities I have been given.

Matt Morris - Customer Adviser, Bristol

I started at the branch of the Stroud & Swindon Building Society in June 2007. I remember when I started I was the only person on my training course, which gave me excellent one to one training at Head Office. A bit scary at the time, but looking back everyone made me feel so welcome, a theme that would carry on into the branch! My colleagues at the Bristol branch are great, fun, friendly, supportive and professional. I have worked within a number of customer service roles and I have noted that is is very rare to see individuals striving to deliver genuine excellent service, let alone an entire team. But here at Bristol I'm proud to be a member of a team who really do try to exceed customer expectations and deliver on our promises.

During my time at Bristol I have got to know customers and customers have got to know me. This makes such a difference to my day and I really enjoy interacting with everyone who walks through the doors. Naturally working in the financial services industry, rules, regulations and rates are constantly changing and the Stroud & Swindon go out of their way to keep their staff trained and updated to ensure we know what is what! In turn this helps us be much more accurate when giving information to our customers.

I'm looking forward to seeing what the future brings, and I know if my past experience of the Stroud & Swindon is anything to go by. I will be helping lots of customers, learning plenty, and enjoying my time at Bristol.

"I'm glad I'm with Stroud & Swindon as it's a friendly place with loads of support when/if you need it!"


Jo Trigg - Branch Manager, Chepstow

I am Joanne Trigg, Branch Manager of the Chepstow Branch.

I have been with Stroud & Swindon  nearly thirteen years, starting as Customer Service Assistant at Chepstow Branch. I started with no experience of working in a building society, but have been encouraged to develop my skills.

The Society as a whole and my immediate superiors have always helped me to move forward with my career and with my long service I am now enjoying additional benefits that this brings. My family life is very important to me too and I have really appreciated being able to take advantage of and benefit from the Society's Work Life Balance scheme.

I achieved promotion within the Society when transferring to the Lydney branch, in 2000, as Supervisor and Mortgage Advisor. After a period of six years and enjoying the experience in Lydney I was then given the chance to prove myself yet again and became Branch Manager in Chepstow in April 2006.

I have always received the utmost support from the Society and my colleagues and appreciate that I work for a company who has invested a lot of time and care into me and my career.