Getting To Know: Andrew Thomson

Andrew is the North West Area Commercial Manager for Westpac, and has been with the bank for over 10 years. Westpac have been involved with the club from inception and are proud sponsors of our BEN Breakfast series

We are well and truly out of lockdown now, how was it for you and did you develop any new work/life habits that you’d like to continue?
My bubble comprised of my wife, 3 adult kids, 2 with partners. With 7 of us it was a very full household and usage of internet bandwidth was high with a number working from home. Rather than wholesale changes I think micro habit changes was the key for me. Learning some mindful productivity techniques has been great. One of my daughters is a chef, so we had some great dinners and conversations as a family during the lockdown.

Do you have your full team back on board every day or are some still at home? Have you had to make any adjustments coming back?
All of my team was working remotely during the lockdown. We had daily check ins to ensure our strong team culture remained. It was important to try and keep motivation strong whilst everyone was in their individual bubbles. Westpac always had a strong focus on employee wellbeing and provided great personal support during the lockdown and facilitated mindfulness and resilience workshops. We had to adapt our interactions with our business clients. Rather than face to face, there was a greater use of skype, Microsoft teams and phone conversations. The different methods of communication with our clients have continued providing our clients more choice. Prior to lockdown informal flexible working arrangements were encouraged and whilst the team are now all back in the office, the flexibility arrangements remain.


Andrew (centre) at a BEN Breakfast event last year - Westpac are proud sponsors of the event series

What has this meant for your business and has it required major changes to your organisation as a whole? Do you think it will bring about any changes for the business and its operation and the industry going forward?
The different communication channels have been a positive change. The use of Skype and Microsoift Teams meetings have become an efficient use of everyone’s time. One thing that hasn’t changed is the need to keep communicating.

Have you noticed changes in customer behaviour?
A number of our clients have been naturally anxious during this uncertain time. We have reached out to most of our business clients during and post lockdown. Communication is the key to us being able to support our clients through the Covid-19 challenges that they face Every business is different, however taking the time to understand a client’s business and their strategy is imperative.

Any other insight?
I don’t think anyone enjoyed the lock down, however I am very proud of my team who collaborated and stepped up to deal with this challenging situation. As a team we have supported our clients. For businesses going forward my advice is to have early communication with your bank and ensure you have quality advisors to assist (Accountants and Solicitors).

On a personal note the lockdown has reminded me that life is short and that you need to take all the opportunities that come your way. A year ago (April 2019, below photo) I was lucky enough to spend 3 weeks in Canada, photo below - fast forward 12 months and April 2020 was in lockdown!

Post the lockdown, outside of work, spending time with my family, back playing hockey and driving my V8 bring me smiles.