Navigating a narrowboat through a canal lock requires a great deal of team work.
Heading downstream, you first need to prepare the lock for your boat to enter.
If a boat has been through the lock heading in the same direction before you, this means closing the downstream gates, opening the upstream paddles and refilling the lock chamber.
With the upstream gates reopened, it’s time to drive the boat into the lock chamber.
Ropes are used at each end of the boat to control its position in the chamber. These ropes need to be loosened as the water level goes down in the lock chamber.
Paddles on the downstream gates are opened, emptying the water out of the lock chamber and lowering the boat.
With the lock chamber emptied, it’s possible to open the downstream gates and drive out.
On Wednesday, the Informed Choice team had a lesson in teamwork at canal locks, taking out a couple of narrowboats for the day along the River Wey in Surrey.
The day trip was an early celebration ahead of our 24th birthday this summer. It was also a great opportunity for newer members of the team to get to know everyone – and for us to get to know them!
Teamwork is an important part of what makes Informed Choice work.
We work as three distinct teams – Financial Planners (led by Shelley), Paraplanners (led by Amelia) and Administrators (led by Lizanne).
Overseeing these three teams are a leadership team of the directors and Lizanne, who meet once a month for a structured board meeting to discuss things like strategy, regulation/compliance, finances, marketing and HR.
We used the team boat trip on Wednesday as an opportunity to update the whole team on business strategy. With our 24th birthday celebrations fast approaching, we want Informed Choice to be around in 24 years’ time, and to be even more successful than it is today!
This means having the right leadership team in place, along with continuing our culture of putting clients first, investing in our team, and maintaining our independence.
We’re very proud of what we’ve achieved at Informed Choice over the last 24 years, for both our clients and our team.
At a time when lots of our peers are struggling to run profitable businesses, Informed Choice is continuing to grow in terms of our assets under advice, fee income and profits.
We’re excited about the opportunities for Informed Choice during the next 24 years, with an excellent team of professionals working together to open lock gates and provide an exceptional service to our clients.
