12 months in review

This morning I was proud to report on BOQ’s 2015 financial year results in a live webcast to the market.

Post announcement, it felt like a natural time for me to pause and reflect on the highlights and challenges of the past years.

I’m really proud of a lot of things we’ve achieved as a team over the last 12 months. From awards won in areas like business banking and risk, to a continuation of a trend towards diversity and growth in terms of both geography and industry, it’s been a full and busy period for BOQ.

It was also great to see the Bank returning to growth. Another standout for me has been the success of BOQ Specialist, the business we bought some 15 months ago.

On a personal note, the highlight for me was being appointed as CEO of BOQ. It’s a real honour to be able to lead a Bank I’m so proud to be a part of, particularly when reflecting on its rich history and culture.  Away from work, my beloved Eastwood Rugby Club in Sydney won their second Premiership on the trot – and I enjoyed watching my sons involvement with that great club.

Every day, I come across examples of the BOQ team and family proving it’s possible to love a bank – on a small and large scale. On a large scale, the Bank continued its work supporting worthy charities like the Children’s Hospital Foundation, and mobilised the network to raise over $200K to support sick Aussie kids. At a one-on-one level, I regularly see examples of our employees going above and beyond for customers.

Having the opportunity to drop into branches and see our front-line employees  in action, or hear stories like that of Mr Fisher, who visits his BOQ branch in Winston Glades every day, even when he’s not banking, really tells a story of our attitude towards customer engagement. 

Internally, our culture survey scores have risen to reveal a team more engaged than ever before. It’s just one indication that this has been a year of significant change. It’s been a tough, competitive year in terms of the market. But what I take away from these last 12 months is that we do have a great team that can take the fight up to the competition – but more importantly, show that we can be a bank that can be loved.

I’m proud of everyone’s efforts. It’s a real privilege to be able to lead BOQ into the future.

You can watch a video of myself and BOQ Chairman Roger Davis chatting about our year here.