Latest News
Josh has worked in sales for 18 years, 6 of which in the financial industry. This is Josh’s first senior leadership role and he feels that with his wealth of experience, tenacity, and drive, he can lead the sales team at Ampla onto great things.
We asked him a few questions about his role at Ampla and the wider market
“What made you join Ampla in September of this year?”
“It was meeting Peter Beaumont at the Ivy in Chobham. I had been at Catalyst Property Finance for 6 years and felt the time was right to explore other opportunities, I was introduced to Peter and without a job spec or even a full understanding of what I was interviewing for, I leapt at the chance to meet with a powerhouse of our industry, whom I had admired from afar for a while. After lunch, Peter had pretty much offered me the role of Head of Sales (or Head of Growth as it would become), and I pretty much accepted it there and then. When you know, you know, as they say.”
“What Peter and the team are building at Ampla is incredibly exciting and the knowledge and experience I bring to the table, there is a great synergy to create something truly amazing. I am very much looking forward to the next 12 months and beyond. Watch this space for things the industry certainly will not expect.”
“You’ve just stepped into the role – what’s the first thing you want your sales team to hear from you?”
“I want to provide a supportive culture with the team, and treat them like the professional adults they are. A work-life balance is very important for all staff, but in my opinion, especially for sales. What we do is highly visible and can easily be objectively measured, and with that comes pressure. I want to ensure that pressure is felt in the right way, to aid the culture of the business and the team spirit, rather than being demotivational as it regularly becomes.”
“Can you share a moment in your career when you turned a sales challenge into a breakthrough?”
“Where to start, as shortly after starting my sales career at the tender age of 21 in 2007, a short 14 months later, the biggest financial crash since the great depression hit. I was working in recruitment at the time, and I was 1 of 18 Resources in the business, 16 of them were made redundant but one other and I kept on due to performance. Just as we were fully recovered from that crash, Brexit hit. I was selling property abroad at the time, and that vote killed that industry stone dead. I had to pivot and made the career change to financial services, accepting a business development role at Catalyst Property Finance, a fledgling bridging lender.”
“I started that role in September 2019, so within 6 months, COVID crippled the world. I found myself working from home for the first time with my wife on maternity leave with our first child (who coincidentally was born on the day I started at Catalyst, although I had 2 weeks of paternity leave negotiated into my contract). However, Catalyst remained one of the very few bridging lenders in the country to keep their doors open the entire time and I managed to hit all my adjusted targets and became the company’s top biller for the next 4 consecutive years, from 2022-2025.”
“So to answer the question, pretty much my whole career there has been huge challenges and I have managed to thrive in the most extreme financial climates. I look forward to the time when we have 5 years of normality, whatever that looks like.”
“How do you balance aggressive growth targets with building long-term trust in financial services?”
“We have some pretty ambitious plans here at Ampla, it’s going to be a rollercoaster for sure. The main balance in my opinion, is always putting the customers’ needs first and then the growth will follow organically. If you are doing a good job for your clients, you have a robust product, a slick customer journey and communicative marketing team, then growth will happen. There will be some huge news coming out of Ampla in Q1 next year and the trust in our business for customers and clients will be at the very heart of that change.”
“If we checked in a year from now, what would success look like for you in this role?”
“I can’t say too much on this at the moment as it would be giving away the plans which we are looking to launch early next year; however, what I can say is that I want to be running a highly motivated team, smashing all our targets with multiple revenue streams for the company. But above all I want to be selling a product I truly believe in and am passionate about.”
Lending decisions are subject to Ampla Finance’s suitability criteria, underwriting assessments, and affordability checks. Products are subject to change and may not be suitable for everyone.
If you are unsure about your options, you should seek independent legal or financial advice.
This illustration does not constitute financial advice.