Meet the Expert: Sophie Roberts
Sophie Roberts is an Area Sales Manager and industry specialist within our Construction & Recycling team.
Here she discusses her journey to Close Brothers Asset Finance and her predictions for the sector in the coming 12 months.
Briefly tell us about your role and what you do…
I’m an Area Sales Manager who works within the Construction & Recycling business, more specifically I am part of the newly formed Access Team. I visit dealerships and customers with the aim of helping their businesses grow through a variety of finance solutions.
What was your journey to Close Brothers Asset Finance?
My first role was with BNP Paribas in their customer services team, within a year I moved to a sales and account manager role within another department. I was with BNP Paribas for nearly 7 years, when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, I was seconded to various different departments where I was able to learn a large amount about the life-cycle of a finance agreement. I then applied for a field sales role with Close Brothers Asset Finance which I was fortunately selected for.
What’s your favourite part of the role?
My favourite part of the job is working with my customers to understand their business, this allows me to work with them to create finance agreements that help their businesses to grow and expand. I’ve been very fortunate to have had a helping hand in witnessing smaller businesses grow exponentially into amazing companies with huge futures ahead of them. I’m very proud to have been a part of their timeline.
Give us an example of a deal structure that demonstrates how you can you help a customer
There are so many ways to structure a deal and some lenders can be specific about what is and isn’t allowed. The flexibility within Close Brothers Asset Finance to create deals where we can lend over a longer period of time or establish a non-traditional rental package is often helpful to customers. By allowing these non-standard deals we can accommodate a large variety of needs and cater to almost any customer.
What are your top 2 predictions for your sector in the coming 12 months?
It’s hard to predict just where we’ll be this time next year, but I’m incredibly hopeful that the sector will continue to grow. I also think that the used market will become more prolific as we navigate through the longer manufacturing waiting times. I’m optimistic that we can continue to provide competitive funding within our industry.
