I have spent the past two weeks on a work experience placement at BLG, sampling the roles of employees across the board allowing me to gain an understanding of the work of the company.
On my first day my nerves were put at ease by Laura, who gave me a tour of the office and introduced me to everyone. I was treated as a new employee would be; given an information pack on the company and was welcomed in by all. I settled in quickly and looked forward to the coming days.
Over the past fortnight, I have spent time sitting with members of each different team in the office to learn about the work they do. The first of these was Paul, who talked me through his work in loan monitoring as well as introducing me to the some of the software used by the company, and patiently explained all the key terms to me so I wouldn’t feel lost in the very advanced process. I also shadowed Shabena, taking minutes in an Investment Committee meeting. Iram talked me through her work as an in-house senior surveyor, demonstrating how a development is valued using comparables. I was introduced to the accounts system by Jen and Abi, who have the very important job of controlling and monitoring all the money coming in and out of the company. Each of the members of the first Credit Operations team (Dyan, Laura, Lexie and Tom) also talked me through their roles, which involve a lot of communication, as I learned whilst sitting in on a call with one of the company’s lawyers. Finally, Michelle shared some of her Phoebus wisdom with me and let me have a go at inputting data into the system.
To understand in full the work done by BLG, I spent some of my time out of the office too. I visited Anna, Marketing and PR Director, who showed me through her working day routine, ranging from coordinating email marketing campaigns to organising intricate VIP events for clients and lenders. After discussing the redesign of the site, Anna tasked me with writing a report, identifying potential improvements that could be made to the current BLG webpage. Laura and I also joined Will on a site visit, kitted out with high-vis vests and helmets to be shown around one of the developments funded by the company. The purpose of this visit was to check up on project progress, a common occurrence in BLG’s hands-on approach to lending.
My spare time was filled with various office tasks, from filing and organising cupboards to typing up letters to clients, all of which furthered my understanding of working in an office.
The timing of my placement meant I was lucky enough to catch the annual rounders match, followed by an amazing BBQ, both of which were lots of fun, and captured the positive spirit of the company.
Overall, I have had an extremely enjoyable and informative past 2 weeks with the company and would like to thank everyone for all their efforts into giving me a great experience of working for BLG.
By Lillian our amazing Intern of Summer 2019
