Biography: Debbie Haworth
As is customary here at Chancellor, we asked Debbie Haworth, our newest team member, to write about her experiences so far – and how she found her way into the Chancellor offices!
Read on to learn all about Debbie’s life so far, and what she makes of the Chancellor team after her first few weeks working with us.
Debbie Haworth’s biography
My early life, school and career experiences
I was born and raised in Bury, where I lived with my mum, dad and two brothers. I was the youngest, and of course, being the only girl made me an easy target for sibling teasing!
I passed the “eleven plus” (11+) exam – remember the good old days? – and attended the Derby Grammar School, where I left at 16 with nine O-levels under my belt.
After school, I went on to study Travel and Tourism at Bury College. I had caught the travel bug following the first of many holidays abroad, where my mum and dad took me to Lloret De Mar on Spain’s Costa Brava.
After my course, I left college hoping to become an air stewardess. However, in those days, the entry age into the role was 21 – so I had a few years to wait before I could apply. Many of my college friends took up positions in travel agencies, but this wasn’t something that appealed to me. So, I signed up with an employment agency and as they say, the rest is history!
How I found my way into financial services
I started in financial services working for a small insurance company called Irish Life Assurance, based on King Street, Manchester, opposite one of our bigger competitors, Norwich Union. Little did I know that, fast forward a few years, I would be working next door at Norwich Union (now Aviva) and would remain there for more than 30 years.
After only a few short years I progressed through to the position of office manager at Irish Life. I was very proud of myself, as I was still only 21.
I was then approached with an opportunity to work for a financial adviser in Cheadle Hulme who wanted me to help him open new office in Handforth Dean, which we did successfully. John Major (before he was prime minister) officially opened the office, which was very exciting!
A couple of years later, I left the adviser office to join Norwich Union, where I stayed for nearly 31 years.
After a long stretch in the same role at Norwich Union, I got the opportunity to take a redundancy package early in 2022. After a short period of what I call “semi-retirement”, I found myself with a new challenge as the office manager here at Chancellor.
I am just coming to the end of my first six weeks here, and I have to say, the team have been very welcoming. I feel like I have been here much longer, which could be a good or bad thing!
I am looking forward to what the next few months bring about, and hope to share my wealth of knowledge and skills with everyone at Chancellor so we can improve the customer experience for all of our clients.
I do still love to travel; that passion has never gone away. However, after a short period working as part of a cabin crew, I found financial services is a much better fit for my skills.
To speak to a friendly member of the Chancellor team, email info@chancellorfinancial.co.uk, or call 01204 526 846 to speak to an adviser.
