Bristow & Sutor employee joins MALG Committee

Bristow & Sutor employee joins MALG Committee

Helen Addis, Social Responsibility and Customer Welfare Manager at Bristow & Sutor, has been invited by the Money Advice Liaison Group to join the North West Committee. The appointment comes as a result of her recent industry impact, fostering collaboration with Debt Advice providers and encouraging discussions and actions related to vulnerability and support of all people facing problem debt.

Helen joined the Bristow & Sutor Group, one of the UK’s leading players specialising in debt recovery, in 2020 and has since gone on to devise and present regular training sessions on enforcement processes to various audiences, including debt advice personnel from all over the country. She has been featured as an industry speaker at multiple events, including the recent Enforcement Summit, often highlighting external misconceptions about what an Enforcement Agent (EA) looks like and aiming to educate others on the dangers of those misconceptions.

Helen advocates enforcement specialists guiding conversations between Debt Advice personnel and Local Authorities, utilising pre-existing relationships and the benefits of shared connections for greater efficiency and the good of all involved. These efforts have included recent Third-Sector roundtable events in both the East-Midlands and North West regions.

MALG aims to encourage working together to improve the lives of people in debt and in addition to Helen has also recently appointed Glen Walker of Ascent Performance Group, Philip Bellamy of Very Group and Darryl Matthews of Lowell to the North West Committee. Collaboration between enforcement firms and the debt advice sector is not always highly publicised, but important work between both sectors takes place constantly. Enforcement is a vital component of the debt cycle, and in many cases, it is at this stage that debtors are convinced to seek help. Through involvement with MALG, Helen is hoping to find even more beneficial solutions for people who find themselves engaging with either type of service in future. She said,

“I am attempting to ensure that social value is present in every community that Bristow & Sutor is involved with and I recognise to achieve this, Debt Advice professionals must maintain an accurate understanding of our methods and goals. Whether this comes from an EA referral or a direct enquiry, knowing why and how we do what we do is the only way to provide the best possible advice. My goal is to build an effective chain of support that is suitable for assisting anyone that needs it. The vulnerable are not a separate class of people and whether it is accidental or not, they should never be treated as such. Anybody can become vulnerable through a change in circumstances or even simply bad luck.

“Helping over-indebted people is our social responsibility and I am proud to have been appointed to the MALG North West Committee. I look forward to collaboratively discussing ideas and solutions to the challenges many people currently face. This is an incredible opportunity to contribute to meaningful change and I cannot wait to represent Bristow & Sutor at upcoming meetings and forums, share our experiences and undertake a joint effort to facilitate future positive outcomes.”

On Helen’s recent appointment, Bob Winnington, Chief Executive Officer at MALG said, “The Money Advice Liaison Group is the ‘missing link’ that ties together all the threads of the customer journey from the prevention to the cure of problem debt. We do this by acting as a thought leader, facilitator and accelerator of change. A key component to our success is bringing together people from all areas of finance and debt, to initiate and facilitate valuable and productive conversations around how to best support people. Bristow & Sutor has been a regular attendee and sponsor of MALG events for several years and we are delighted to welcome Helen Addis to our North West Committee. We have been very impressed with the contributions and conversation Helen has fostered since she joined the business and we look forward to her insight benefiting the fellow members of MALG.”

Bristow & Sutor has over 42 years of experience in the collection of local council tax, non-domestic rates and unpaid Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs). The company prides itself on delivering an ethical, compliant and high-quality service to the public and private sectors and has been an active member of MALG for several years. The business has been announced as a sponsor for the MALG annual conference, set to take place at No. 11 Cavendish Square, London on Thursday 28^th October 2021.