En Voyage_Issue#11_Flickbook
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Business<br />
FACES OF BUSINESS<br />
RICHARD BRISCOE<br />
With extensive experience in the finance industry and 15 years at<br />
Managing Director level, Richard is at the helm of the business<br />
ensuring the team maintain the 50 years of Close Finance’s<br />
customer care in the islands, while ever looking to expand the<br />
business. Richard spends his down-time exploring the islands and<br />
discovering hidden beach cafés.<br />
How do you start off your<br />
working day?<br />
Where is your favourite<br />
place in the world?<br />
What single achievement<br />
are you most proud of?<br />
Breakfast with my family followed<br />
by a short cycle along the seafront<br />
to drop my daughter at nursery, and<br />
then back up the seafront on my<br />
three-speed bike with a basket. A<br />
most pleasant commute compared<br />
to previous years spent in the UK.<br />
How would you describe<br />
your leadership style?<br />
Approachable and encouraging but<br />
determined. I hate complacency<br />
and believe to retain a customer<br />
you have to go the extra mile. As<br />
part of a great team, I recognise<br />
that there is huge amount of<br />
experience to draw upon within the<br />
business and so I value the team’s<br />
views before making decisions.<br />
Do you travel much in<br />
your role?<br />
I used to spend a lot of time on<br />
motorways and trains so now the<br />
thought of a quick flight between<br />
the two Channel Island offices<br />
is a pleasure. I also travel once a<br />
month to our head office in the<br />
UK. One aspect of living in the<br />
Channel Islands is that it is easy to<br />
talk face-to-face with customers and<br />
this personal approach really helps<br />
build and cement relationships.<br />
I love travelling and have been<br />
fortunate enough to have trekked<br />
to Everest base camp, climbed<br />
Kilimanjaro and seen the sun rise on<br />
Machu Picchu. With a young family<br />
now, I’m not quite as adventurous<br />
but we recently returned from<br />
staying in a tree house in Thailand<br />
and we washed an elephant in the<br />
river. Favourite place is a difficult<br />
choice between Cape Town,<br />
Kathmandu and Angkor Wat.<br />
How do you maintain a<br />
healthy work/life balance?<br />
I have found it very difficult in<br />
the past as I am quite a driven<br />
person, and was probably guilty of<br />
spending too much time thinking<br />
of work. Moving to the Channel<br />
Islands was the best decision I<br />
have made and I feel I have finally<br />
found a good work/life balance<br />
– my family certainly think so.<br />
How would you<br />
quantify success?<br />
Being satisfied with what you have<br />
achieved. If you feel you have given<br />
your best to something, be it work<br />
related, a sporting achievement or<br />
parenting, then this is enough.<br />
I spent a long time rowing both<br />
at school and in my early working<br />
life and represented <strong>En</strong>gland on<br />
several occasions. I was fortunate<br />
to train alongside the Olympic<br />
squad at Leander Club in Henley<br />
on Thames for seven years<br />
and compete at Henley Royal<br />
Regatta. These guys, many of<br />
whom were Olympic medallists<br />
or went on to win Olympic<br />
medals, were very inspirational.<br />
What’s the best piece of<br />
advice you were ever given?<br />
Don’t fill a wine glass up to the<br />
top – there is always another<br />
bottle that can be opened.<br />
As a child, what did you want<br />
to be when you grew up?<br />
A pilot for the sheer sense of<br />
adventure and travel. Finance can<br />
be adventurous at times too!<br />
What is the last thing<br />
you think about at the<br />
end of the day?<br />
I try to think about something<br />
positive that has happened in my<br />
personal or professional life or an<br />
event that I am looking forward to.<br />
110 <strong>En</strong> <strong>Voyage</strong> | Aurigny’s Magazine