What it's like to work in our Finance Team

Our Finance Team caters to one of the most crucial parts of our business. We have carefully built a team of capable, committed individuals to ensure our tenants' rents are collected and our landlords are paid. You might be thinking "I wonder if I could do that?" 🤔 Well, we have good news for you, we're here to tell you that you could have what it takes to join our Finance Team as we open up a new Apprenticeship Role within our Finance Team 💻

First, here is a bit of background on our latest team member who joined, Ellie Ford. Ellie joined us six months ago now and she has already proven to be invaluable to the team, after leaving college Ellie joined a different local agent - building her knowledge of the industry and her confidence in a professional setting. When Ultralets acquired the lettings branch of the other agent, Ellie came along for the ride and found a place within the Finance Team, supporting Alice with rents, deposits, arrears and many more financial aspects of our business.

Alice, who initially joined us as an apprentice, has supplemented Ellie's growth in her position by giving her the same support, and equally independence, that she was given during her apprenticeship here.

To mark Ellie's sixth month with the business, we checked in with a little one-to-one chat to see how she has been getting on, and how her role within Ultralets has developed:

"The last six months have flown by here at Ultralets. I am loving every second of the job and working within the Finance Team. My knowledge and skills have grown massively since working alongside Alice...

...When I joined, following Ultralets' acquisition of Hull House Group (HHG) I felt confident in my communication skills, however, Ultralets have helped to develop my confidence even further in dealing with landlords, tenants and solicitors on critical Finance matters...

...I had a broad knowledge of the industry from my previous experience but, by joining the Finance Team, I have been able to grow a much more specialised understanding of internal procedures and legislation surrounding rents, tenancies and deposits...

...Having a supportive manager like Alice has been instrumental in my progression at Ultralets. She has helped support me when I need it and also given me the independence and trust to work and develop on my own...

...I have learned so much in the last six months. When I first started I wasn't sure if I would feel this confident in my abilities. I have recently completed a full month of running the department on my own during my colleague's absence, this proved to be a successful month and reinforced my confidence in my abilities to ensure that the financial aspects of Ultralets are in safe hands"

When we are considering a new team member to join us, we have a few core skills, traits or principles, that indicate to us whether or not an individual would be an asset to help grow Ultralets:

Knowledge of the rental industry, and having an understanding of the rental process will set you up nicely. Do plenty of research and try to understand rental demands and property trends. Having this information behind you will help in an interview situation
Your customer service skills need to be outstanding, a Letting Agent has to constantly communicate with a range of people from tenants, landlords and contractors so you need to be adaptable and professional. The people and situations we deal with are directly impacting people's lives, treat them as you would want to be treated in the same situation
Computer skills are essential, we’re completely paperless and all admin is done digitally to reduce our impact on the environment and improve efficiency
Flexibility is key, we’re not talking about pilates or yoga! In this industry, the hours you work can be varied so being prepared for that is important. Sometimes you might have a critical email that needs to go out or some invoices to send off before payment day

What does a normal day in the office look like?

There's a range of daily responsibilities in the Finance Team, including:

Sending out rent arrears letters
Aliasing with tenants about their queries
Council tax demands
Reconcile rents to the rent accounts
Email enquiries

As an apprentice, your understanding of the industry and the rental process will be nurtured. We don't expect all candidates to come to us with full working knowledge of the role, otherwise, you would probably be doing it already. We want to bring in like-minded individuals that share our values and beliefs in a simple, stress-free renting process for tenants and reliable, personalised service for landlords.

Posted By

Ollie Potten