With over 13 years of experience in the later equity release market, Thomas has worked in a variety of roles including as a front-line adviser, business development and project management for brokerages and technology providers. With a particular focus on customer acquisition and partnerships, Thomas puts the customer at the heart of everything, and continues to work on improving the later life lending industry for everyone.

Kate joined the Equity Release Council in February 2024 as Risk, Policy, and Compliance assistant. Kate has over eight years experience in the equity release sector starting as a customer service agent at The Right Equity Release. Before joining the Council, Kate held the position of Business Support Manager at The Equity Release Experts who were part of Key Group. This role involved building relationships with stakeholders and providers, assisting advisers with queries, and providing management with sales reports and conversions.  Kate also has experience working in the retail sector.

With 25-years’ worth of experience in communications, Lee has worked for a wide variety of different organizations from large lenders, funders and advice firms to membership bodies and PR agencies.  Managing change, building stakeholder relationships, and helping brands develop robust communication functions which focus on delivering excellent results while mitigating risk are at the core of her skill set.

 

Jennifer joined the Equity Release Council in 2022 as an executive PA and admin support. She has over 15 years’ experience in administrative roles in local government and healthcare, in both public and private sector settings. Jennifer has a degree from the University of Surrey and now lives in Essex with her family.

Laura has spent more than 12 years working within the non-profit/membership sector. She has a strong background in project management, product and service development, communications and business operations.

With a passion for people and all things membership, Laura is an enthusiastic collaborator who thrives at building professional relationships, cultivating meaningful partnerships, and takes pride in developing and implementing initiatives that increase relevance, diversity and value to membership communities.

Kelly brings over 20 years of financial services expertise, working with both lenders and networks in later-life lending, helping to drive improvements and create best practice. Kelly has previously held regulated positions at Alliance & Leicester and Legal & General.

Sue has a wide range of experience as a business development manager, underwriter, operations manager, trainer, compliance officer and, most importantly, adviser, across a several firms and networks. This breadth, covering over 30 years, provides a unique insight into both consumer and adviser perspectives.

Sarah has been work with the Equity Release Council for over 10 years. Having previously worked for an equity release financial adviser and Sun Life of Canada for over 20 years. Sarah is the Administration and Service Manager for Equity Release Council and deals with all aspects of the membership process, onboarding new members and dealing with the renewals and any membership queries.

Former Labour MP, Minister with Department for Work and Pensions and Parliamentary Private Secretary with HM Treasury under Gordon Brown. A former lecturer in Economics, Chris was also a director at the Financial Services Authority – the precursor to the FCA.