Our commitment to career moves and promotions

In this weeks Leading the Way blog, we outline why Bristow & Sutor encourages flexible career moves within the business and share some of the recent members of staff to have made transitions and won promotions as they climb the enforcement career ladder.

When employers speak of adaptability and flexibility this often relates to the approach to work or even the strategy behind day-to-day operations, but at Bristow & Sutor, we go beyond this and apply the same ethos to the individual career paths of our people. Enforcement is highly specialised and complex work and it is not until staff experience working amongst the different routes possible that they always identify where their main interest sits. This sometimes results in a sideways career step being required and we always look to facilitate this when we can. By being adaptable and flexible to the interests of employees as they progress, hone skills and learn more about the intricacies of the sector, we ensure we maintain a happy and motivated workforce. Once our staff have established the right path for them, we apply the same care and attention to help them make forward steps and progress towards promotions and recognition within their chosen channel.  

Recent moves  

Since May 2021, we have seen no fewer than 12 members of staff make internal moves within the business. Liam Crank and Dean Allen have both been promoted from Enforcement Agent to Enforcement Agent Team Leader, as has Malcolm Daren, who was previously an Enforcement Agent Supervisor. Victoria Hodgkins and Lewis Daniel have transitioned from Collections Officer roles to Telephone Collections Agents, whilst fellow Collections Officers Lauren Davey and Clair Clarke have become Digital Collections Officers.  

Sue Hill is now a Specialist Collections Officer and Laura Field has also changed a Collections Officer role to become an Operations Learning and Development Assistant. Jodie Edwards has switched paths from a Recovery Officer to Compliance Officer, taking over from Donna Skidmore who is now a General Office Supervisor Secondment. Carrie Giles has also made a move during this time, transitioning from Administration & Payment Clerk to New Case Administrator.  

Learning from experience 

Bryan Wall, Enforcement Agent Manager, is responsible for the performance and welfare of all Bristow & Sutor EAs and EA related office staff, such as those working in administration, routing and fleet management. He has himself benefitted from making moves within the business, from working on the frontline as an Enforcement Agent to rolling out training requirements as Supervisor and transitioning to an office-based role as Assistant Enforcement Agent Manager.  

Bryan says, “Enforcement is a performance-driven environment no matter what focus your role takes, but this is applied in a variety of different ways and through all kinds of specialisms.  Whether you find you enjoy being out on the road, training and motivating others or prefer the more technical aspects such as insight and analysis, if you have the right mindset there is a career path within this business for you. The more my career develops, the more I understand the effort it takes to create an environment where transitioning from one job to another internally feels like a smooth and natural process. I am pleased to say Bristow & Sutor have become experts at recognising when this might be beneficial and continuously strive to offer rewarding promotions and new pathway opportunities to our dedicated employees.”  

Long-term aspirations 

One of the best benchmarks on how you are performing as an employer is to consider how long staff remain with you on average and the growth they achieve individually in the time that they dedicate to your business. Basil Fletcher, for example, is sadly retiring this August after 29 years as an Enforcement Agent at Bristow & Sutor. Basil has been a committed and successful member of the team throughout his career with us and whilst we are sad to see him go, we are proud of all that he has achieved and the journey he has been on with us over the years. We all wish him the very best in his retirement and thank him for his unwavering effort, hard work and example set to those who have both worked with and learned from him.  

Our hope and ambition is that Bristow & Sutor will continue to fulfil the career needs of its employees long-term and provide a happy and prosperous working life for all. We continue to provide structured career growth strategies and our goal remains for all staff to establish clear career direction throughout their time with us. We will continue to provide a high level of support, training and opportunities in-house so that climbing the career ladder does not mean having to move elsewhere.  

Our strong reputation in the enforcement industry is because of our people and ability to retain top performers. This is one of the key reasons we are so committed to flexible pathways and will always remain open to conversations when members of staff indicate they are interested in stepping into different teams and departments.